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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162229">The Voices of the MiracuChat</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenRG/pseuds/BenRG'>BenRG</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Chat Blanc-compatible Gabriel Agreste, DjWifi is probably the only entirely healthy relationship here, F/F, F/M, Felix is an ass, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Luka Couffaine messes up, TV Special: Miraculous World: New York, TW - Underage Glamour Modelling, alternate late season 3, chat room, impulsive revelations</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:14:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>40,868</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenRG/pseuds/BenRG</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Master Fu is trusting Marinette with more and more information as she progresses with her studies in the lore of the Miraculous. So, she decides that the time has come to start making decisions of her own and  the first one is to bring her team closer together, making them better organised and better trained. REAL Holders of the Miraculous</p><p>One of the means she chooses to do so is a secure chat system created with the help of Max and a certain Foxy blogger of her acquaintance.</p><p>Originally 'Rules for Posting on MircuChat'. The response was positive and I had some ideas for further chapters that are increasingly my alternate version of late season 3 and a full alternate season 4 all the way to the final confrontation; I'll post as and when I have a chapter ready. Several are in work as you read this!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Multimouse (yes you read that right), Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge/Nino Lahiffe | Carapace, Chloenette (hinits), Ladrien - Relationship, LadyBee (hints), Luka Couffaine | Vipereon/Alix Kubdel | Bunnyx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>205</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Rules for Heroes (and Posting)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This originated as a post on the Miraculous Ladybug wiki about what rules a chat-room for the heroes should have. It wasn't really meant to be serious or in any way a commentary on any particular work.</p><p>However, it has since metamorphosed into a real narrative work - A bit of Marichat in its Multichat sub-form. I'll be adding on some Ladrien and a sprinkling of my other preferred ships along the line. We might even find a resolution to this mess that is our heroes civilian and costumed lives? Who knows. </p><p>As this is sort of a random 'Ben's stream of consciousness' creation, I can't promise a distinct end but if I do come up with a way of wrapping up the story elements of what is meant to be primarily a humour story, then I promise that I will.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>Staff List</strong>
  </span>
</p><p><strong>Owner/Admin:</strong> @BugBoss - <span class="u">Ladybug_Verified@ladyblog.fr</span></p><p><strong>Co-Admin: </strong>@Foxybabe - <span class="u">RenaRouge_Verified@ladyblog.fr</span></p><p><strong>Tech Guy:</strong> @MightyMax - <span class="u">m.kante@staff.ladyblog.fr</span></p>
<hr/><p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>Rules for Heroes (and Posting)</strong>
  </span>
  
</p>
<ol>
<li>Do not reveal your civilian identity. Do not ask someone directly to reveal their civilian identity, tempt them to do so or indirectly fish for clues that will expose their civilian identity; </li>
<li>No matter how utterly ridiculous (I'm looking at you @TrueQueen) their reason, akumatised villains are victims that need sympathy, not scorn; no revenge plots or trash-talking please; </li>
<li><strong>NO SHIPPING!</strong></li>
<li>Do not invite temporary heroes to join unless they have completed at least <b>two missions</b> (whilst not being under Miracle Queen's influence);</li>
<li>Temporary Hero potential candidate list, recommendations and discussion has its own thread pinned at the top of the list; take it there please (@Cool4Catz - Please lay off about Multimouse); </li>
<li>Promotions/Merchadising Discussion also has its own thread. @TrueQueen, stop trying to sell your get-rich-now ideas on the chat, please!</li>
<li>New York heroes, you have your own room ( <span class="u">Hot Dog-Eating Heroez</span> ); @CitySparrow, @HotMetal, you two have special dispensation after that fiasco last summer but please keep all your team-mates to their own room; no-one wants to deal with @SuperMom living up to her screen name or @AmericanChampion trying to turn everything into a politics thread!</li>
<li>At the request of my Kwami, @DragonGrrrl, you're in;</li>
<li>@WascallyWabbit, please remember <em>when</em> you are and remember: NO SPOILERS!</li>
<li>@Ladyblogger has the final editorial rights about the main site. If you don't like a video or still posted of you, tell her, not the chat!</li>
<li>Further to rule 3, yes, you can use the chat to flirt with your <span class="u">in costume</span> significant other. Yes, that means this permission is restricted to @FoxyBabe and @NotARenaissanceArtist; deal with it;</li>
<li>Hawkmoth? Mayura? If you're somehow reading this, surrender now; it's going to be a lot less painful that way. </li>
</ol><hr/><p>
  <strong>QUICKLINKS</strong>
</p><p>-- PUBLIC CHATROOM -- LADYBLOG FORUMS -- LADYBLOG NEWS -- LADYBLOG WIKI -- WHO IS THE LADYBLOGGER -- MEET THE HEROES -- </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Chat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Okay, because people liked the idea, I thought I'd try to actually turn this into a story.</p><p>I'm not particularly familiar with this storytelling style so I'll probably make some mistakes along the way. Still: Enjoy!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette drew in a deep breath as her hands hovered over her desktop's keyboard. This was a risk. It was a huge risk but there were many benefits to Alya's idea. The system that Max had set up for them would enable them full and continual communication at all times. They'd be able to share tips and tricks, support each other emotionally in bad times and develop the bond of trust that she already had with her kitty.</p><p>All she had to do was stop things from turning into some kind of rolling random noise generator. She knew her team-mates well enough to know how easily they could get side-tracked! I mean... she worked with the Guardian of the Miracle Box, right? She kept the Kwamii from wandering off every day to cause whatever havoc they wanted so keeping four good friend and actual heroes in line couldn't be that hard, right?</p><p>So, why did she feel such a dreadful feeling of doom?</p><p>Well, this was it. She leaned forward and started to type.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>ping @FoxyBabe</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss invites @Cool4Catz @TrueQueen @NotARenaissanceArtist</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> chat open! sound off!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> hey, bugaboo</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> chatting with Ladybug! squee!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Greetings dudes and dudettes!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Aren't you all lucky I'm here</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, everyone read the rules?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Tch</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> don't push me, queenie.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> k watevs</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I can always just ask Chat to get you signed up to the rules</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> nooooo!!!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> he'll pun me to death!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> u monster!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> we know qb's secret weakness! woot!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> hey! i'll have you know that my puns are the height of sophistication</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> right, bugaboo?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> &gt;.&gt; ... &lt;.&lt;</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> anyway, i have means to make you cooperate</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Chat's "sophisticated humour" is but one of them</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> why the inverted commas?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Don't worry about that, kitty! go play with the red light!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> I'll have you know that i stopped doing that WEEKS ago! :P</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> aren't any of you heroes about to intervene in this cruel and unusual punishment?</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">@TrueQueen</span> if chat's puns are too harsh for you, we can make you mod of the under-teens chat for the day. yknow, as a treat for the rugrats</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i take it back; pun me kitty baby!</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss MUTED all participants</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, now I'm going to unmute you band of lunatics and you're going to confirm that you read the rules, okay?</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss UNMUTED all participants</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Of course, milady</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> Hell, i helped WRITE them girl!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> been sweating over them and working out how to not break them with @FoxyBabe for the last hour so, yeah</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> you're a meanie but yes</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i mean, i feel affronted that you wouldn't immediately expect me to be the best behaved kitty online!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> &gt;*x*&lt;</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> okay, i'm glad that we're all on the same page</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I know that it seems harsh but they're for a reason</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Whilst I want for us to be able to interact out of battles or patrols and get to know each other better, I don't want this to be a free-for-all</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> besides, shipping ruins lives</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> I'm with queenie; you're a meanie!</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> j/k</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> srs tho...</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> showed me the shipping forum on the main site</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> never wanted to gouge out my eyes so much</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">@ByAnotherName</span> and <span class="u">@Wethagirl</span> are either saints or masochists to mod that cesspit</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Should I ask babe?</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> Nope. value your brain intact too much!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, basically, this chat is for several things:</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> It's a nice high-speed communications link so I can alert the team I need for a battle</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> we can discuss patrol rotas, barter, beg, steal or dump patrol shifts</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> we can brainstorm tactics</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> but mostly it's to relax</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> bunwind</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> share life hacks and the like</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> bunwind</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> bunwind</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> bunwind</p><p><strong>@NotA</strong><strong>RenaissanceArtist:</strong> bunwind</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i'll let that one slide but i hate you all</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> anyways, stuff to look out for</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">#akuma</span> is the general alert and will dm your ladyblog email accy even if you're logged off</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">#timeout</span> is an emergency team meeting; please log on the moment you get that alert</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">#sos</span> is an all-call alert</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> even if you're not on the original mission team, you drop everything, transform and head straight for the combat zone</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> how do we do that?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> we'd need to wait for SOMEONE to deliver our miraculous</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> the new guardian agreed with me; the three of you have proven your worth and you're going to be permanent at least hawky is out of the picture</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> OMG</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i love you i love you im getting pollen bcak!!!1!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> :D:D:D:D</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I owe you so much ladybug</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> omg omg omg</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> X X X X :D</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> come to the hotel after school and we'll hang out and spa together!!! on daddy's tab!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i might not be able to do it tonight but we'll see</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> What about the other temps, milady?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> we'll see.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> ryuuko and vipereon are on the 'very definite possibility' list but Pegasus and King Monkey still need to be reviewed</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> they're not very experienced atm</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> are they trustworthy long-term? can they take the heat?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> the old guardian didn't tell me who km's civilian ID is so the new guardian will  have to get xuppo to reveal who it was</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> What about Multimouse?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Compromised, chat, you know that</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> please drop this</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> &gt;*x*&lt;</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Not sure that works by text, dude</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Bugaboo finds me irresistible</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Even over chat</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss has LOGGED OFF of CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Hey, hows those words taste?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> :(</p>
<hr/><p>Marinette sat back in her seat and shook her head. Chat would never know just how tempting a possibility it was, to have 'Multimouse' as a member of the chat and to be able to interact with her team-mates without the crushing burden of being Ladybug and the team leader impacting every word she typed.</p><p>However, it was for the best if she didn't. Not only would it give Chat more reasons to continue to 'drop in' on her balcony every now and then it would also make her Kitty all the more determined to get his good friend Marinette back onto the active roster. Once again, it was tempting but there were even more downsides. I mean... what if Multimouse and Ladybug had to be at the same battle again?<br/>
No, better for 'Multimouse' to remain on the bench.</p><p>She'd just have to deal with Chat's disappointed looks and pleas on their shared patrol nights!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>SPECIAL GUEST MENTIONS:<br/>@ByAnotherName - Rose Lavillant<br/>@Wethagirl -Mirelle Caquet</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Patrol Rotas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette never knew that she was so popular with her team-mates...</p>
<p>Or that she had such great authority!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette was getting a headache. The best that she could say about this fiasco was at least it was preparing her for the day she managed her own fashion house and had to keep her employees (all likely as much as highly-strung primadonnas as her team-mates) organised and not tearing out each other's throats.</p>
<p>One other thing was that surprisingly likely to be repeated in her adult professional life was going to be the fact that she somehow was the centre and focus of everyone's attention. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to work with the boss. Even those whom she really thought would have wanted to work together.<br/>
___________________________________________________________________________<br/>
<strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?subthread=ROTAS</strong></p>
<p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Look, guys, you have no idea how flattering this is.</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> No, not just flattering. </p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> It's heartwarming; the most wonderful vote of confidence I could receive</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> But I have a civilian life, so I can't be out every night to patrol with all of you little lost puppies individually all the time!</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Hey! I'm not a puppydog</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> No, you're a mangy kitty-cat and Ladybug would never want to patrol with you when she could patrol with moi</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Hey</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Seniority </p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Also, I've been M'lady's partner from the start, buzzy little bee</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Seriously, Chatty, that's the point</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> You've got months one-on-one training time with Ladybug</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> As much as it hurts to admit not being perfect, the rest of us need to catch up!</p><hr/>
<p>Marinette sat up a bit straighter, quite surprised that Chloe had made such a good point! Either the hotel/fashion media heiress was changing for the better or this is what she once heard Anarka Couffaine describe as 'a broken clock being right twice a day'.</p>
<p>Uh-oh. Better wool-gather later. A certain Fox was getting territorial and a certain Bee was making an agitated buzzing noise.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?subthread=ROTAS</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Okay Queenie, but who needs the most one-on-one time?</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Well, Queen Bee is a one-shot kill on anyone </p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I'm easily the second most powerful hero after Chat</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> so, obviously, we need to learn to anticipate each other's moves</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Seriously?</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Queenie, I love you but you're a one-hit wonder</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I can literally flute up _anything I want_</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Kind of need to learn how to know in advance what to make!</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> one-hit wonder???</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> this from a support-class that can't take down an akuma without backup???</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> say that again bug head</p>
<p><strong>@NotARennaissanceArtist:</strong> Woah rena, qb chill ladies</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Yeah, this isn't a competition girls!</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Do as you say not as you do, kitty-cat?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, I'm with cap! everyone chill!</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Firstly, Chaton is right: This isn't a competition over who is my favourite</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> that goes for you too, kitty</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Secondly, the new guardian authorised permanent holders on the basis that *everyone be better able to work with everyone else*</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> not just me, no matter how adorable i apparently am to you all</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> That means, for example queenie and the cunning fox need to learn to work together</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@TrueQueen</span>, you have some powerful moves but every hero is best suited for different tactical situations</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Which is why you're going to be patrolling with Chat Noir</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Wait, chat?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> He's got seniority, Cap</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I think that he's got what it needs to help people with comparable powers</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Which is why I've paired him with queenie who also has a one shot that has to be in at the right target power</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Rena's power is creative, so I think I can help her better</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Cap, you're going to be alternating with me and chat on different weeks</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Got it, boss-dudette</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Also, Rena, you and Cap have patrolled enough together that you already know each other's moves</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, you don't need to be paired up when one of you is not working with me or chat</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, I want you two standing down on non-patrol nights</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I have a non-heroic life and I know that you two do too</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> find balance, people</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> you need that balance or the mission will overwhelm you</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> but ladybug!!!</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> but ladybug!!!</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> No 'buts' girls. I've been dming the new guardian and they've already agreed with this plan</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I don't want to push but they said it was conditional of the placement of the miraculous that you follow the more experienced heroes' direction</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> also, chaton, i expect you not to abuse this</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Queen Bee, i expect you to not to treat a legitimate order from your team leader seem like abuse of position</p>
<p><strong>@QueenBee:</strong> .A.</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> oh dont be like that, queenie</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> like rena says, we all love you</p><hr/>
<p>Marinette leaned back from the keyboard again. "Tikki? Am I pushing this 'new guardian' thing too much?"</p>
<p>The subtly shining red ladybug spirit of creation landed on the desk next to the keyboard. "What do you mean, Marinette?"</p>
<p>The noirette shrugged and rubbed her nose. "I'm supposed to be the team leader but I am having to fall back on this fictional 'new guardian' to give my directions any weight! I'm literally using a lie to keep things organised! Master Fu would be so disappointed if he knew how bad I was at making the plan that I persuaded him to accept work!"</p>
<p>Tikki looked at Marinette for a while, her aeons-old mind wondering how such a strong person could still manage to be so lacking in self-esteem and self-belief. "When you think about it, you're not lying!" Marinette shot her kwamii a look of mixed shock and disbelief. "Master Fu is teaching you the lore of the Miraculous; he's teaching you spells and potions; he's teaching you the whys as well as the hows!" Tikki's smile grew wider. "Those things are forbidden to outsiders. The fact that he's teaching this to you means that he's taken you as his Apprentice." The kwamii drifted up and touched her Chosen on the tip of her nose (a part of her that spoke in Plagg's voice laughing at the girl's slack-jawed shock at her next words). "Marinette, you <i>are</i> the new Guardian."</p>
<p>Marinette would later admit to herself that she was impressed by how quickly she recovered from that revelation. "Well... Okay..." The girl shook her head. "Obviously, that has to stay a secret so... We'll keep doing this the way that I have already?" Tikki nodded gently. "I mean... the Master has already agreed with my suggestions about giving the others their Miraculous at least until Hawkmoth is defeated, right? So, I'm hardly wrong to say 'the new Guardian' supports my decisions?"</p>
<p>"Exactly, Marinette. Honestly, I think that you may even be a better Guardian to deal with a crisis!" Personally, Tikki thought that persuading Fu to swap the Rooster for the Turtle was probably the best thing that the Master could have done. Wayzz was a good being and the Turtle's passive defences were wonderful but Okkido's energy had probably added a round century to Fu's lifespan! Besides, Nino's energy was something that Wayzz was enjoying after a long time hiding in his metaphorical shell!</p>
<p>Marinette was looking at the chat and wondering why Chloe and Alya were just so unable to act like those two bickering but ultimately loving sisters outside costume when she noticed Nino wanted to talk to her. Who knows, perhaps it was at Wayzz's suggestion.<br/>
___________________________________________________________________________</p>
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  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?subthread=ROTAS</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
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<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> So, Wayzz tells me that he used to be with the old Guardian</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Is the dude okay?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> he's fine cap</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> but he's old and had to hand over to his trainee for a lot of things</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> besides, we think that Hawkmoth is after him personally so he felt he had to go deeper into hiding</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> the new guardian is... a bit more able to look after themselves without being so hidden as to be hard to find even when needed</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> That's a relief; tell the dude that wayzz says hi</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Shouldn't we be more... i dunno... quiet about the handover?</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i mean, you basically shouted that the 'new guardian' had authorised new heroes during that interview with Nadja Charmak</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> hawkie has to know that there's a new guardian in town now</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Don't worry kitty</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> All according to plan</p><hr/>
<p>Marinette smirked to herself. Hawkmoth had been quite close on Fu's heels as far as the Master could tell, possibly using the power of the Butterfly to try to locate him somehow. Now, suddenly, he was desperately trying to find a 'new guardian' to the point where a lot of Akumatised villains had specifically mentioned that they had to capture them. Such a shame they didn't actually exist!</p>
<p>Suddenly Marinette's eyes opened wider with a shocking realisation.</p>
<p>Actually, <em>they did</em>!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>CAST LIST</p>
<p>@BugBoss - Ladybug/Marinette<br/>@Cool4Catz - Chat Noir/Adrien<br/>@TrueQueen - Queen Bee/Chloe<br/>@Foxybabe - Rena Rouge/Alya<br/>@NotARenaissanceArtist - Carapace/Nino</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Temporary Heroes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It turns out that suggestions for possible Temporary Heroes opens many a can of worms about how the existing heroes view each other and those they know</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, yeah, this has turned into an actual story, spanning roughly from Feast to Miracle Queen and beyond.</p><p>I thought that I'd add to the limited pool of Ladrien (in future chapters) and give my own little spin on Marichat... or rather Multichat, as I will do it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One of the more important things that Marinette had learned about leadership wasn't how to throw her weight around and get what she wanted. No, it was when it was a good idea to let others take the lead and be able to speak freely so that, when you made your choice, they would be sure that they had been heard and their thoughts fairly considered. With the strong personalities in her team, it was all the more important to do so and to also delegate on occasion.</p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?subthread=TEMPORARY HERO SUGGESTIONS</strong>
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  <strong>User: queenb_verified@ladyblog.fr (@TrueQueen) - SUBTHREAD MODERATOR</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, Sweet Honey, you're up!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Flirt ;-)</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Okay, you losers, it's your luck day. </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Not only is this thread moderated by moi</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> yay (waves flag) /sarc</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> But you now get the chance to tell us who you think is somehow worthy of a Miraculous and why!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> YAY! (lets off confetti bomb)</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> So, if our two resident males have stopped reliving their pre-teen years, we can get started</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I'll start off, just to show you what I think a nomination should look like.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Sabrina Raincomprix is ideal. Remember #Miraculer? Sabrina really is that quick and flexible in mastering new skills. She's also very brave and I've always felt that she has a lot of compassion in her.</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Well, she IS your best friend, queenie</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> That's the point i'm making. Sabrina goes the extra mile and takes risks for her friends; it's important to her</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Well, some of us have a slightly different interpretation, qb</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> That said, she is smart and she is brave, I don't think that you can deny that</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'll put her on the 'consider' list but we've got to be more sure about her ability to really be sure of right and wrong</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Beware the Dark Side?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> More accurately, beware someone who will do anything someone with enough charisma/authority tells her to do</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> come on, Hot'n'Red! She's not that bad!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Girl, she broke into <span class="u">@Marinettedesigns</span>' house and stole her diary because you told her to!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Okay, Sabi is a bit suggestible</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Maybe a bit over-eager to please too</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> She has weak willpower, Queenie; how would she react to an akuma whose host is an authority figure?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I *think* she might work out she shouldn't obey orders from an akuma</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Unless she doesn't know who it really is, see #Chameleon</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Look, being realistic, i grant u that it's an extreme outlier risk but it illustrates the sort of thing we have to be aware of in this process</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Hawkmoth has a talent for finding people's vulnerabilities, after all.</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> thinking of rule 1 should we even be mentioning candidates' names?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> The secrecy magic on the Miraculous is weird</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You can know someone has a Miraculous but, unless you've seen it or seen them transform or somehow otherwise know who they are, you could literally walk up to their hero form and still not know them</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You'd know that your nomination had been accepted but you wouldn't be able to mentally connect them with the new hero no matter how obvious it is</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> It's like King Monkey; i still think that i ought to know him but i keep drawing a blank</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> That's why the new Guardian will be dealing with issuing Miraculii without any of us present</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Anyway, any more suggestions?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Marinette Dupain-Cheng</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> &gt;.&lt; not this again chat</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> What? is there a problem with her?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> chat seems to have an obsession with her</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I can see the underlying point: she has experience</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Really? since when?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> BUT she was compromised</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Only to you and me; </p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Hawkmoth has never shown that he can sense what happens after an akuma is cured and #KwamiBuster was down before she detransformed</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> What! Mari was involved in that mess and never told me?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> She was and she was great! Freed the Kwami in one move! She's brave and creative!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Its painful but its true </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> About the creative side, I mean!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> #StyleQueen calls her exceptional and anyone who knows me personally knows how hard it is to earn that title from my mummy</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I will reluctantly admit that she definitely seemed to heve discovered her spine in the last year; I blame Cesaire for that</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> But she's a disaster waiting to happen; I mean, she can barely walk in a straight line without breaking her legs</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Hey, growing pains, queenie</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> I mean, she's clumsy when distracted and she distracts easy when she's got lots of things on her mind</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> What, you know her?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> By reputation; <span class="u">@Foxybabe</span> told me about her</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I did?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Oh, yeah; i run into #Anansi occasionally; she tells me that she's joined her kickboxing gym and is scary good at that</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> As in 'will kick Hawkmoth's face out the back of his head because of him targetting children' scary</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> I've seen her practising Tai-Chi some mornings and evenings on her rooftop terrace</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Seriously, she's graceful and more than a little hypnotic</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Oh? A certain kitty-cat is straying and found a better lap to nap on than his Lady?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 a certain dude got a new girl? &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p><p><strong>@BossBug:</strong> NO SHIPPING!</p><p><strong>@BossBug:</strong> <span class="u">@TrueQueen</span>, youre supposed to be moderating this mess</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Sorry, lb</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Too busy grinning at how the kitty's face must be glowing right now!</p><hr/><p>Marinette had no idea how badly Chat's face was burning right now. What she <em>did</em> know was that her face was burning like the sun and she was afraid that she'd never be able to show it ever again because the blush would become a permanent part of her face. Tikki's giggles didn't help one bit. "Tikki! Did you know  that Chat was... <em>spying</em> on me when I was exercising?"</p><p>Marinette's kwami grinned infernally. "Of course I did, Marinette. He hides just past the eaves on the roof opposite and the way he stares with his mouth hanging open is quite funny!"</p><p>Marinette cried out in mortification and horror and clapped her hands over her burning cheeks. She would become a nun! That's it, she would join a reclusive religious order and no-one would ever have to see her blushing face again! "Please tell me that he didn't see you!"</p><p>"Of course not! I can sense Plagg more than half a kilometre away when Chat Noir is approaching and hide myself." Taking pity on her holder, Tikki drifted up and stroked the girl's cheek. "He never did anything inappropriate, Marinette. He sees, acts like someone had struck him and, after a few moments, runs away like someone had thrown a bucket of water at him!" The little kwami giggled. "I do have to wonder why he keeps coming back at those same times on different mornings and evenings though!"</p><p>Marinette blushed again but this time it was accompanied by a shy and gentle smile. "I... I guess he likes it, huh?" Why, oh why did her life have to be so complicated? Why did she find herself wondering whose face was behind that mask? Why did Chat's bold smile so often replace Adrien's shy grin these days?</p><p>A traitorous part of Marinette's brain reminded her that, when she was teaching her Tai-Chi, her mother had once told her that, when she was a teen, she used to occasionally exercise <em>naked</em>. The noirette uttered a horrified squeak as she imagined Chat catching <em>her</em> doing just that. In horror at the thought or in horror at how a part of her mind <em>wished that he had</em> she had no idea!</p><p>Desperately trying to get her brain back on track, she turned her attention back to the chat.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?subthread=TEMPORARY HERO SUGGESTIONS</strong>
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  <strong>User: queenb_verified@ladyblog.fr (@TrueQueen) - SUBTHREAD MODERATOR</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, everyone stopped ragging on Chat for the soap opera that is his love life?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Never</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> :'(</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> srsly: &gt;:P</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Maybe I should take up ballet again and then practice on my balcony?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Just in case lb swings by that evening?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> crap! deletedeletedeleterecallrecalltoolate!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> facepalm city</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> back2business, tho, as Daddy likes to say</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> as this is the temp heroes thread rather than the "whose body am i hot for" thread, any other suggestions?</p><hr/><p>There was no reply fo a while. Marinette wondered if everyone else was digesting Chloe's slip too. The more she thought about it, it made sense. Chloe's flirting with Adrien was so... <em>artificial and false</em>... that she'd never really understood it. Kim she'd blanked and treated his approaches as insulting. </p><p>
  <em>Chloe liked girls?</em>
</p><p>Yeah, that made a lot of sense. Alya and even <em>Lila</em> had told her that the way the blonde treated her felt a lot like she was showing off and now she possibly knew why she might be doing so. Marinette felt that slow, treacherous blush working up her neck, cheeks and face again. Oh god, what sins had she committed that her life should be like this?</p><p>Marinette snapped out of her thoughts as she saw the 'This User is Typing' icon appear next to Alya's in-costume screen name.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?subthread=TEMPORARY HERO SUGGESTIONS</strong>
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  <strong>User: queenb_verified@ladyblog.fr (@TrueQueen) - SUBTHREAD MODERATOR</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> So, yeah, maybe I know someone. </p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Or at least i know OF someone</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Remember that girl that <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> put on the blog? Who said she was <span class="u">@BugBoss</span>'s best friend?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Which we now know to be the delusion of a pathological liar</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Um</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> One of several that have hurt lots of innocent people</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Yeah, we know she's got problems</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Who doesn't?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> The point is that I know that she's really into heroes and wants to prove to Ladybug that she's not just a crazy fangirl</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> or so <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> tells me</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Rena, are you seriously nominating Lila Rossi?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Yeah, i am</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I know she's caused problems and has her rough edges but she's got a good soul</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Let's talk about those 'rough edges' then, Rena</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> she's actually beaten qb's record for akumatisations caused</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> she's nearly got M'Lady killed when she dragged me away based on a false 'injury' during the #OniChan incident</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Hey, lying disease, remember?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> That doesn't explain the two or three times ive had to hold Marinette whilst she's crying her heart out and help her find the courage to go to school the next day because of that girl's plots and threats</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Not even i achieved that much</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> guys, please, shes my friend</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> or at least Alya's friend and Alya's mine</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Alya is sure she's a good person</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> At least she WANTS to be</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> She just needs someone to give her a chance</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Cap?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Babe, you know I love you but this isn't my call</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Anyway, you know what I talked about 'too close to see'?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Alya is so very sure of this, Cap, guys</p><hr/><p>Marinette grimaced; Alya was coming perilously close to outing herself now. She knew that Lila had somehow wormed her way into Alya's big heart. However, this was the first time she came to appreciate just how invested her best friend was in the Italian girl and her public image of being a little angel who just needed love and a chance to shine. </p><p>Marinette was just thinking of some way to let her best friend down easily but she'd taken too long and Chloe's acidic side had already taken charge.</p><hr/><p>
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  <strong>User: queenb_verified@ladyblog.fr (@TrueQueen) - SUBTHREAD MODERATOR</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> So what if we gave her a dry run?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Srs?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Im in a bad place to veto someone on the grounds of being a vile witch</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Maybe see how she'd work out with the Pig Miraculous?</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> Hey, thanks for the vote!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Big problem with that</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> The Pig is the Miraculous of Veracity</p><hr/><p>Marinette looked at her hands. Why the heck had she typed that? She could almost hear Chloe's malicious cackling and winced at the realisation that she'd enabled the other girl to show her worst nature.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?subthread=TEMPORARY HERO SUGGESTIONS</strong>
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  <strong>User: queenb_verified@ladyblog.fr (@TrueQueen) - SUBTHREAD MODERATOR</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Oh, so a magical veto then</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> What? why?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> nvm look, liar has a big public image thanks to @Ladyblogger's interview and all her charity and showbiz work she's always talking about</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> *Lila damn you autocorrect</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> not sure she could keep her id secret being so much in the public eye</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> let alone find it easy to get away if there was an alert</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> sad but true</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Rena, I'll be plain here</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Lila is reckless ten times worse than alya and showoff on a level that eclipses even chat and queenie </p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> She's going to have to rein that in a LOT before i'd consider her for something where people's lives are on the line</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> lb's got a point, foxy</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> my dumbest stunt was because i couldn't stop it being about me</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> but for Daddy i'd be in a hospital for criminally insane children right now</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> and deserve it</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Don't worry, Sweet Honey, we'd have broken you out if it came to that</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> lie but thx anyway</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Anywayz, chat - gonna put your sweet pink activewear roof girl on the 'maybe' list; im going to have to satisfy me that there's a need that deserves the risk</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> ditto with Sabrina, queenie</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Rena, let alya know what we said about liar</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> *Lila and i'm so going to get chat to catacylsm the autocorrect</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> yeah ill pass it on</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Unless there's anyone else to discuss, irl is nibbling at my heels</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss has LOGGED OUT of Chat</strong>
</p><hr/><p>Marinette blew out her breath. How could something this simple have opened so many sores in her life and that of the others? For all that it was important that they trust each other enough to be able to admit to failings and give each other love and reassurance, she really wasn't sure if that outweighed the uncomfortable revelations that she, at least, was trying to handle as a result of this suggestion.</p><p>Most importantly, why hadn't she just told Chat 'no' to Multimouse like she had so many times before? What was up with her thinking right now?</p><p>Then the first stanza of the classic Loony Tunes song played from Marinette's phone. That meant that Chat had requested a private DM session.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Private Room chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat/private0002</strong>
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  <strong>USERS: @BugBoss (ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr); @Cool4Catz (chatnoir_verified@ladlyblog.fr)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Yeah, what is it, Chat?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> M'lady... um... we're cool okay?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> ???</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> I haven't been perving on Marinette, I promise</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> It was just my darned bad luck</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Or good luck for once, kitty?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Aw ladybug</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Just teasing, hero </p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Besides, im not the one you need to apologise to</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You need to go to Multimouse and tell her that you saw her</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> You think... she'll be mad?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I dunno maybe?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> if she is, you earned it</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> maybe</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> or maybe she'll be flattered?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> yknow, put on a personal and extra-special dance show just for her prince?</p><hr/><p>"<em>DEIU MISÉRICORDIEUX! WHAT AM I <strong>DOING</strong>?!?</em>" Marinette screamed. She somehow resisted the urge to put her fist through the screen, smash her head into her desk or simply throw herself headfirst from her window to end this nightmare forever.</p><p>"<em>Marinette, are you okay?</em>"</p><p>"Uh... I'm fine Papa! I just gotta restart this level because of my stupid fat thumbs!"</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Private Room chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat/private0002</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>USERS: @BugBoss (ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr); @Cool4Catz (chatnoir_verified@ladlyblog.fr)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> kjfoieahygpihgelxiugwoia</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> quiet, m'lady or i'll quip about qb doing a strip-tease for you</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> touché, kitty i'll be good</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> How did you know Mari's activewear is pink anyway?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> How? </p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Hold on</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I know her well enough to know that pink is her special colour. </p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> call it a lucky guess</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> luck is my thing, after all!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> anyway, im serious about respect though</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> from now on it's an invitation-only show</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i don't want her to hate me</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I doubt that she could ever hate you kitty; hate herself for embarrassing you, maybe?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> id never want that</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> she's too beautiful, loving and perfect for htat</p><p>
  <strong>@Cool4Catz has LEFT THE ROOM</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>END PRIVATE SESSION (Y/N)?</strong>
</p><hr/><p>Marinette's fingers paused in their attempt to tease her kitty for his typo and her mouth dropped open as her brain processed the words.<br/>"Marinette, I suspect that Chat is on the way over right now."</p><p>Marinette blinked at Tikki a few times before her brain rebooted enough to understand the kwami's words. "Uh... yeah. Better log off the chat app. And tidy up. Make sure nothing Miraculous-related is out. And stuff."</p><p>As she did so, Marinette never actually consciously wondered why she was fretting about what she was going to wear for the cat hero's inevitable and shortly-to-happen arrival.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Invite - The Snake and the Dragon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The time has come to welcome two new recurring heroes to the chat. Almost immediately, problems start to arise.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette was flexing her right arm experimentally. The big problem with the Miraculous Cure is that, whilst it undid all the actions of an akuma, it was really bad at convincing your brain that it had done so. So, whilst she <em>didn't</em> have a compound fracture of her right humerus, her hindbrain was pretty sure that she <em>did</em> and her nerves were shrieking their displeasure every time she flexed her arm. Still, at least she'd proven to herself that she could use her yo-yo just as well with her left arm in a combat scenario...</p>
<p>"That was bizarre, Marinette!"</p>
<p>Marinette turned to her kwami. "Yeah, I suppose that I should be better at riding out Akuma weirdness but, really: A hair-styling villain with a giant set of merged hairdressing tools as a sentimonster? If I didn't know that Hawkmoth and Mayura's powers have to draw from the target's subconscious needs, I'd suspect that they'd been smoking some of Mme Couffaine's <em>special</em> stash!" The kwami giggled in agreement just as Marinette's computer chimed to indicate that Chloe had just logged into the chat. </p>
<p>"For what it's worth, Marinette, I think that Chat liked you with long unbound hair like that!"</p>
<p>Marinette started typing but still managed a nod. "Yeah, I don't think that he liked having a full beard though!"</p><hr/>
<p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It's ridiculous! UTTERLY ridiculous!</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> <span class="u">@BugBoss</span> - I know that you have a rule about this LB but it's true!</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong>  i swear that i didn't do ANYTHING to her!</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Okay, I snapped at her</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> But she was *burning my hair* with the straightening tongs! Who wouldn't snap then?</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> But i wasn't mean! I didn't demand a different stylist, say i'd have her fired or anything, I just asked her to be careful and she came apart like a bad origami sculpture!</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Don't worry, Honey, i actually believe you</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> from painful personal experience, i know that someone can break at the end of a bad day with just one more push.</p>
<p>
  <strong>@Foxybabe and @Cool4Catz have joined the CHAT</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Well, that was a painful interview</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> According to <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> anyway.</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> #Newwave says 'sorry', by the way, queenie</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Or, more accurately, she babbled apologises so much that she was hard to follow. </p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> tells me that she used 'omg' more times in a minute than ought to be possible</p>
<p>
  <strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist has joined the CHAT</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> tch</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> accepted but only because im a superhero and im above petty grudges</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Actually, I think you pulled off the undercut, my dear Bee</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i can pull of anythig </p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> pull of anythig</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> drat, i owe you a soda, cap</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> also, how dare you persecute me thus?</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss hit the ATTENTION BUZZER</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Now everyone's here: Firstly, congrats on the team-work today. We're really pulling together as a team and learning how to coordinate our moves</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@Cool4Catz</span> - Chaton, please don't freak out when i'm hurt in the future, though. im a big superhero and can limp into cover on my own. i don't automatically need you to carry me away, especially when you're supposed to be covering someone else</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> However, thank you kitty x</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss posted kissu.png</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> #o_o#</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, to business, and pursuant to rule 4</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss INVITES @Snekcharmer @Dragongrrrl</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Team, may i formally introduce Vipereon and Ryuuko</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Hey, sword-maiden! lyre-boy!</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> yo heroes!</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> dudes</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> salutations, new sidekicks! you'll find the snack-fetching schedule at the top of the thread list</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Seriously, it's the only real job you'll get most days</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> QUEENIE RENA</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> kidding!</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> aw girl, you know me and queenie are just teasing</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> It's good to meet you all... Well, 'meet' when there isn't some crazy person with fifty-metre hair trying to rip my extremities off</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I am, of course, greatly honoured to be invited to this congress of warriors</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Ladybug-sama, what is this 'rules' attachment?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Standard summary code of conduct, Ryuuko. A simple list of what you should and shouldn't do to protect confidentiality</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> and to stop this chat devolving into a sort of crazy free-for-all</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I cannot see how such a thing could happen. However, I have clicked the check box</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Excellent, that means you have become one of the Inner Circle</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Yeah, now you are now privy to the secrets most mortals are not allowed to know!</p>
<p>
  <strong>@Foxybabe posted BEGINTHERITUAL.jpg</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Dragongrrrl:</strong> Secrets? Ritual? Ladybug?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Don't worry about it, Ryuuko</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Rena and Queen Bee, despite their fractious friendship, have a nasty habit of ganging up on newbies for cheap lulz</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I think that it's pretty much proof of how close you guys are</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> bit of a wallflower myself so please excuse me if ima just a lurker for a bit</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> i feel lost already</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> The best way to handle this dudette is to look everything queenie and my sweet fox post and ask yourself: Is this more likely to be some kind of weird joke</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Ah</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> As I have little experience with humour, that doesn't help much</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> What cap means is that renas and queenies posts need to be parsed through a reality filter</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> how likely is it to have any reality?</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Ladybug-sama, this morning, I used a tornado to launch a creature made of barber-shop tools into the Seine. I also needed to keep a creature with 50-metre long hair soaking wet so that she was unable to hurt my fellow fighters</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> it is my submission that 'have any reality' is something long lost to my life until Hawkmoth-oni is finally defeated</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Dudette has a point, boss</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> just ask me or M'Lady if you aren't sure, Ryuuko</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> just don't agree to do anything they ask without checking with me frist</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> frist</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> frist and ninjad</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> frist</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> you'll get your soda rena and my vengeance</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> soda? vengeance? Will Rena Rouge be punished?</p>
<p>@<strong>NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> it's just a tradition to offer the first person who catches a  typo of yours a soda.</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> I... don't  think that anyone's ever cashed it in?</p>
<p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Chat did with me, once. Mostly because it was hot and I wanted a soda myself!</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> The threat of retribution is just another tradition that doesn't mean much except keeping some semblance of pride in your own mind</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> If it has no meaning, why do it?</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Because it's fun, stormy babe! Teasing and ragging on your friends!</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> It doesn't seem friendly to me</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Sorry, guys, ive got to red-flag this convo</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Y'all confusing the newb</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> She's too precious and innocent and i just can't let you have her</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> 'cause she's mine, see</p>
<p>
  <strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist posted mypreciousheldoutofthelava.png</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I... er... that is most flattering, Carapace</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> However, it would be most inappropriate to let you have me. I know that you are in a relationship with Rena Rouge and I am already in a relationship too</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Really? I'm metaphorically all ears, mostly due to the barren desert that is my romantic life</p>
<p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl is typing a reply</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss MUTED @DragonGrrrl</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl Your reply was REDACTED by @BugBoss/ADMIN</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Uh oh? did i do that?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Ryuuko, just as a heads-up: don't let anything slip about your out-of-costume life as it may compromise your secret identity</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> It's easy to get tripped up into it by these teases, so you need to be careful; no harm no foul as you're only starting out</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss UNMUTED @DragonGrrrl</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Thank you, Ladybug. I admit that ive never quite been under this level of social pressure before</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> You know, if I didn't know already what good friends you all are, this level of easy camradre would surprise me!</p>
<p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Camradere? It seems more like a chaotic melee</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Only on the surface; if you look at this like a musician, you can see how each individual tune harmonises. That only happens when a group is long used to integrating their music; you can see quite easily your interactions outside</p>
<p>
  <strong>@Snekcharmer is typing a REPLY</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss MUTED @Snekcharmer</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>@Snekcharmer Your reply was REDACTED by @BugBoss/ADMIN</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Perceptive but maybe ease down on the insights, Vipereon?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Please remember and observe rule 1</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> This includes not pointing out similarities to people who may or may not be our civilian selves</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss UNMUTED @Snekcharmer</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Well, okay, if you say so</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I really think that it's a bad idea long-term</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Anyway:</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> It may be my perspective but im sort of shocked no-one else has made these connections already Melody</p>
<p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> melody? weird nickname</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Yeah, and I've heard it before but I can't remember where</p>
<p>
  <strong>@Snekcharmer is typing a reply</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss has BOOTED @Snekcharmer (Duration: 1 hour) Reason: Breach rule 1 (Strike 1/3)</strong>
</p><hr/>
<p>"What the <em>hell</em>, Luka?" Marinette couldn't believe that the über-chill rocker and empath was actually going to <em>tell</em> Chat where he may have heard the nickname he had for Marinette, likely blowing all three of them's secret identities in the process. "Tikki, did I make a mistake with Luka?"</p>
<p>The Kwami of Creation stroked her chin in a way most reminiscent of Master Fu. "I don't think so, Marinette. He is a good holder for the Snake and his heart is very light and honest. I just think that he is very, very bad with concealment and secrecy. I wonder if there's a story behind that?"</p>
<p>Marinette blew out her breath. Luka always seemed so kind and sensible! Who knew that he could be so addle-brained? The noirette French-Chinese girl slapped her forehead. Of course, he was just the sort of guy who would get it in his head that being all open and 'kumbaya' would be good for their spiritual health or something! "Ugh! First Adrien 'I cannot differentiate friendship with romantic attraction' Agreste, then First Mr Ultra-Flirt Kitty and now No-Filter Luka! What the heck is wrong with my choice in crushes? I really thought that he'd be the smart one!"</p>
<p>Marinette noted an icon appear on her screen indicating that the chat system had automatically logged Luka into a private room so she could talk to him.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <strong>Private Room chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat/private0001</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>USERS: @BugBoss (ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr); @Snekcharmer (vipereon_verified@ladlyblog.fr)</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Marinette? What did I do?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You literally broke the biggest and most important rule of the board within 10 minutes, Luka. </p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I don't cuss easily but </p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> you. fucked. up. big-time. </p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You'll notice that I'm not freaking about you knowing my secret identity</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Sass told me all about your synaesthetic empathy (yes, i looked it up)</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, i know that you probably know everyone's secret identity with the exception of Ryuuko, who you've never met outside the mask</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> That's not an excuse though</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Our identities are our #1 vulnerability, Luka. Blow that and Hawkmoth can try to attack us through our families</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Even I don't know everyone and, right now, don't NEED to know</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> PLEASE tell me that you haven't been babbling about being Vipereon to Juleka or your maman</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> That's something that gets you being off the team for good and me trying to work out if the Goat Miraculous really can alter memories</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Marinette, I'm not an idiot</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I'd never endanger Jule and Anarka like that</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I just thought that, in the team...</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I mean, aren't secrets a bad thing in our situation?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Luka, seriously? You have the biggest heart of anyone I know</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So you saying that doesn't surprise me</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> The thing is that we're fighting against a telepathic supervillan here</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss</strong>: The Guardian has been really sketchy about just how much information Hawkmoth can get from the symbiosis with the akuma host; i wonder if they even know themselves</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Even if there is a limit to that, the akuma knows everything the host knows and there is no reason to assume that they won't just blurt it out if it suits them</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Anark... Mum always kept a lid on my dad's identity</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> She always said it was to protect me and Jules from all the bad things in his life</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> What it really did was leave me with a great big blank half of my identity and i've always hated that</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> i always swore that i'd never let something like that happen in my personal life</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> i just didn't think it thru with the team though</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I'm sorry Pls unblock?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I've set a 1-hour timer and you're going to have to sit that one out Luka, no matter how much I understand what you're saying and how you feel</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> That's how badly you've screwed up and how important it is that you realise it, no matter what your motives are</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> my team, my rules. my way or the highway</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I... understand Melody</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Luka? Drop the nickname</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> there was a time when i thought it was endearing but, right now, it's just reminding me of all the work i'm going to have to do to sate the team's curiosity</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Never again, not on chat, dm or in person, do you understand? you've made the word a gun pointed at my head</p>
<p>
  <strong>@BugBoss has LEFT THE ROOM</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I'm sorry I'll always be your friend.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracucha</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> M'lady? I'd like to invite Multimouse and Aspik to the chat</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Rule 4, Chat. They need to have carried out at least 2 missions</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Yeah, but that doesn't count with them, surely?</p>
<p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> ???</p>
<p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> ???</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> I mean, Multimouse used at least a dozen Multiplicity clones, right?</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> You said that Aspik used Second Chance thousands of times?</p>
<p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Surely that puts them over the limit?</p>
<p>
  <strong>@Foxybabe posted mindblown11.gif</strong>
</p><hr/>
<p>Marinette's mouth dropped open. Then, much to her shock, she was laughing her head off. That was her Kitty: He always knew how to make her feel better in bad times.</p>
<p>~~~~~</p>
<p>On the houseboat <em>Liberty</em>, there was far less happiness. "Shit."</p>
<p>"What's up, lad?" Anarka was no empathic soul but she could see from her firstborn's body language that he was in considerable distress. She fixed him with her "'fess up" stare. </p>
<p>Luka logged off the chat app that his Melody had sent him and threw his 'phone across the Couffaine kids' bedroom. Then he finally looked up at his worried mother. The green-dyed rocker grimaced. "I just managed to seriously screw up with one of my friends by thinking with my heart."</p>
<p>Anarka grinned slightly but without humour. "Yeah, that's the lesson: Thinking is what you do with your head. Feelin's what you do with the heart and you need to make sure yer not confusing which one you should be doin' and when."</p>
<p>Luka nodded. "I know, Anarka. I just... I've got a bad feeling I may have broken something that hadn't even been fully formed yet."</p>
<p>Anarka walked over, put an hand on Luka's shoulder and squeezed gently. "It happens. Sometimes it fixes itself; sometimes you can fix it; sometimes it's broken an' that's the way it stays, lad. No guaranteed 'happily ever after' in real life."</p>
<p>"Yeah..." The young man stood up. "I gotta get out of here. Find something to do other than thinking about how I may have just thrown away the best thing in my life on a notion."</p>
<p>As Luka jumped off of the <em>Liberty</em> and onto the wharf, Anarka sighed and shook her head ruefully. "Impulsive and feels instead of thinks. He's got too much of you in him Jared. Hope he learns to shake those bad habits sooner than you did."</p>
<p>~~~~~</p>
<p>Alixandria 'Alix' Kubdel was having the time of her life. She was feeling in the zone and was racing back and forwards on her roller-blades in a bicycle parking area just off the River Seine. Her voice was raised in ecstatic whoops and hollers as she skidded along bicycle racks and up and down sloped walls. </p>
<p>She was so in the zone that she didn't seen the morose green-haired young man until she nearly literally ran her blades up his chest and across his face.</p>
<p>"<em>Shit</em>! Oh hell, sorry man!" Alix squinted at her near-collision and a connection in her mind closed. "Hey! You're Juleka's big bro! Luka, right?" Luka offered the sporty tomboy an entirely false smile and nodded. "Woah! Someone is today's Akuma bait! What's up? Is Jay okay?"</p>
<p>Luka briefly considered telling the girl (who, after all, he barely knew) to get lost or just use a plausible non-reply to get rid of her. The thing was is that he wasn't really malicious or even particularly antisocial. Even now, as he considered how his Melody... no, he had to learn even to <em>think</em> of her as Marinette now, she was right about that... was so angry with him and how he may have messed up his chances with her before anything between them had even begun. "Juleka is fine, Alix. I'm just... not having a good day. Worse, it's my fault."</p>
<p>Alix felt that she perhaps should just commiserate in a non-specific way and get on with her life rather than waste her free time on a relative stranger. However, there was something about his dye, his sad smile and the wonderful teal-green of his eyes that fascinated her and she suddenly felt like doing a good deed for the day. "Say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing?"</p>
<p>Luka snorted. "I was a moron in a chat room, so I guess it was technically 'say the wrong thing'. Anyway, I got the woman of my dreams maybe 'breakup mad' with me. Which is shitty because we'd not even got together yet!" That surprised him. This was the first time that he'd ever even let himself express his feelings for Marinette out loud. This cute, somewhat-androgynous pinkette semi-stranger was not the person to whom he'd ever expect to do it.</p>
<p>Alix slapped off the buckles of her blades and hopped up onto the curved wall next to the hottie with the gentle smile and the beautiful, warm and sad eyes she could just drown in... (<em>What the hell, Kubdel? He's Juleka's brother! Cool down!</em>). She blew out her breath. "Oof! Now, screwing up because of my dumb mouth? That's something I'm a subject matter expert with! So, now what?"</p>
<p>As Luka began to tell a heavily-edited version of the story (no names - he owed Marinette that much) and Alix did her best to commiserate and maybe even offer half-way useful advice about going forwards, Bunnyx watched from a rooftop. The white-and-blue clad bearer of the Rabbit Miraculous of Evolution smirked, shook her head as she withdrew the point of her parasol from the crushed remains of an akuma butterfly (oh, she hoped that asshole Agreste felt that) and snorted with laughter. "Oh girl, I still remember this dumb conversation and how useless you feel right now trying to help this guy that was suddenly your sun, moon and stars! You have no idea where this is going to take you!"</p>
<p>Bunnyx holstered her weapon, turned away from the talking teenagers and gestured seemingly at nothing. "<strong>BURROW!</strong>" A white portal opened up in the air in front of her and, with one last look at her past self and her suddenly-found crush, Alix Couffaine returned to her native time-period.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry, Luka-fans. This wasn't meant to be bashing. I just wanted to get what I thought was the possible down-sides of Luka's easy-going ways and open-hearted nature out of the way sooner rather than later... as well as set up my favoured alternative!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. No Spoilers!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's a hard, hard day for Kagami - maybe the hardest ever - and she's looking for a distraction from her friends. She got one but she could never have imagined this!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Things are beginning to speed up now as the very existence of the MiracuChat begins to drag events off of their canon course</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Uncle Toshi was dead.</p><p>With a sigh, Kagami pulled her pure white silk <em>mofoku</em> mourning robes out of their static-proof plastic coating and hung them from the small coat-rack in her bedroom in Kanto Prefecture, just east of Tokyo, Japan. She collapsed onto the big bean-bag in the centre of her room and looked at nothing for a while.</p><p>Toshehiro Isuko wasn't Kagami's uncle by blood but he had been 'Uncle' ever since her mother, in a moment of annoyance mixed with humour, had accused her one-time fencing mentor of treating her daughter like he was 'a sentimental old uncle rather than a serious tutor'. Naturally, the old man had treated his one-time protege's words like a compliment rather than a reproof and from then on, when Kagami was not learning the way of the Bow and the Blade from him, he was 'Uncle Toshi'.</p><p>Of course, when she was learning, he was always <em>Toshehiro-sensei</em>. Probably the only person whom she'd ever address with that most sacred version of the word 'teacher' in her native langauge. He had been a world and Olympic champion fencer and archer. He had taught her mother everything she knew (and, Kagami suspected, not everything he knew) and had been the first serious fencing tutor her mother had retained for her daughter before his increasing aged frailty and the family's business in Paris that required the Tsurugis to move to Europe interrupted.</p><p>"Uncle, I wish I had one last chance to speak to you," she sighed mournfully. Longg landed next to his Holder but, thankfully, didn't try to engage her with any of his lengthy stories. As much as Kagami enjoyed listening to the story of Tomoe Gozen, the legendary swordswoman who had wielded the Dragon Miraculous in  the 12th Century (and a very childish part of Kagami wished that she might be her ancestress), right now, the girl didn't feel up to it.</p><p>Kagami pulled out and booted up her laptop. She supposed that she should be trying to get some rest but, right now, she was on Paris time and wide awake. Her attempt to sleep on the 11-hour flight to Tokyo had been entirely thwarted by her brain's inability to accept that Uncle was gone and the fact that a part of her kept coming back to Ladybug's explanation of what Hawkmoth wanted with the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculii and what could be done with that power.</p><p>With a groan, the girl decided that she couldn't be alone. As always, her mother was basically unapproachable and had little interest in discussing anything with her daughter. Besides, Uncle had been a father figure to her too. If Kagami was shocked, Tomoe was almost certainly in the deepest mourning for a man to whom she credited her every sporting achievement.</p><p>Almost without being aware of it, the Japanese girl opened the password-locked chat app sent to her by Ladybug.</p><p>She was very surprised at the conversation to which suddenly appeared on the screen.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>User: ryuuko_verified@ladyblog.fr (@DragonGrrrl)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I'm just genuinely scared.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It's a huge risk and I don't know how I'd handle her spitting in my face</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> even though I'd deserve it</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Seriously queenie?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> she needs to hear it, even though you used to bully her</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> even if she doesn't want to date you, accepting her coming out might help the two of you have a better relationship</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Yeah, you're right.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Don't make up problems for myself before they happen</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Oops; Sabrina is calling </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> gtg</p><p>
  <strong>@TrueQueen has LOGGED OUT of Chat</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Hey, Storm Babe!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, how is the Mystical Far East?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Much as I left it... minus a mentor.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> As little as I know, I'm sorry. Loss is hard</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> When my papa's tante died, I was still kind of young and I just couldn't figure out where she'd gone to.</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> This... truly came as no surprise to me.</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Uncle was elderly and was growing sicker those last two months before we left Japan</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> That does not make me miss my Master any less.</p>
<hr/><p>In her room, eight hours ahead and almost halfway across the world, Marinette couldn't help but grimace as she read Kagami's words. It was something that had played on Marinette's mind on more than one occasion. Hawkmoth was looking for Master Fu and he was an old man besides. What might happen if she were to lose that calm, wise influence on her life?</p><p>What might happen if she found herself as the <em>Last Guardian</em>?</p><p>She shook her head. Chloe was right: Don't make problems for yourself before they happen. Best focus on what is now. Kagami was typing.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>User: ryuuko_verified@ladyblog.fr (@DragonGrrrl)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Who is this girl who caught Queen Bee's eye?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> A girl in her class came into class this morning and something caught her attention</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> She'd added strips or colour to the pockets of her jacket that were the Bi Pride colours. </p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> It helped Queenie had realise that she'd been attracted to her for a while but she'd been trying to deny it</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> She went as far as bullying her pretty badly to prevent herself from thinking of her that way!</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Ah</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I was going to say that at least my relationships aren't that complex but that would be a lie</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I'm still not sure if Adrien actually likes me romantically or just attempting to play the role of boyfriend because it is what seems to be expected of him</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Ouch</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I am... pleased that you know my secret identity so I can discuss this openly with you</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> There is no-one else I feel I could confide in</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Adrien is a fine man but he is not expert at understanding his - or anyone's - heart</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Or how he should react to others.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Yeah, I know a girl who has said something similar to that to me about him...</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Of course, I can't honestly say I'm much better.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'm pretty much the queen of total mental breakdowns when I'm crushing!</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I, too, feel that I am not quite making an emotional connection either</p><p>
  <strong>SERVER is dealing with an Anomalous login attempt and may respond slowly</strong>
</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> What does that mean?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I don't know</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Is someone trying to hack the chat? </p><p>
  <strong>ERROR 0x01e08404 - Non-Standard Login with admin override credentials</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> It could be anything</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Game face on, Ryuuko; I'm dming <span class="u">@MightyMax</span></p><p>
  <strong>ERROR 0x020000e0 - Stack Overflow Exploit</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Hey, am I on now?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Is anyone seeing this?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Who are you and by what right do you come here?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Woooaaahhh cool! </p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> It worked!</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> You're Auntie Gami! Or you will be! </p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> I mean... you're about my age right now!</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Is Auntie C logged in? </p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Oh</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> No, that's not going to happen for... like... fifteen years?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Who the hell is this? As soon as I get this admin panel unlocked, I'm booting you, whoever you are, akuma, mundane hacker or whatever</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> No! Wait</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> I'm wone of you...</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> *one</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> This thing doesn't have automatic heuristic autocorrect?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> What kind of cheap-ass chat app is this?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> I mean... the server security AI, if that's what it was supposed to be, didn't put up the slightest fight and my PDCAI cut right through the firewalls like butter</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> I guess I really am back in the stone-age!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, turn off the verbal deluge</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Who are you again?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> oh, yeah</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> No, no way am I letting that slip</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> I'm the holder of the Snow Leopard Miraculous of Ice</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> I go by 'Snowpaw' in the field</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Yeah</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Never heard of you OR that Miraculous</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> try again</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> hawkmoth or mayura?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots: </strong>What?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> no way am i either of those two uber-losers</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> not that either of them will </p><p>
  <strong>SERVER carrier interrupt on user: Snowpaw_verified@miracunet.net</strong>
</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Um... Sorry about this Babybug and Minidrag?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Bunnyx?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> What is this?</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Kind of a training run but someone's curiosity got the better of them when they were SUPPOSED to be doing a stealth tracking exercise</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> but it was boring</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> i could leave my suit on autopilot and tomas would never spot me!</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> why would you have taken me back in time if you didn't want me to interact with the heroes here?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> especially m</p><p>
  <strong>SERVER carrier interrupt on user: Snowpaw_verified@miracunet.net</strong>
</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I'm lost</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Ryuuko, meet Bunnyx, the Holder of the Rabbit Miraculous of Evolution from... what... about 10 years into the future?</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> And after. No spoilers but i'm from a lot further down the line than the conflict with Regina dei Miracoli</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> DAH! Recall! MERDE! </p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Forgot that these antideluvian electron-based networks don't have transtime admin tools yet! Man... quantum computing rules when it comes</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Tell me about it Auntie Al</p><p>
  <strong>SERVER carrier interrupt on user: Snowpaw_verified@miracunet.net</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Snowpaw, you're so lucky that I already know Bunnyx's secret identity</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> sorrysorrysorry</p><p><strong>@Whitepots:</strong> i meant auntie b but...</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> I mean... just a text interface?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> That's lame!</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> No 3d in-sight display? No optic cortex image capture?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> How do you guys share images and videos without it? Let alone communicate emotions without live facecam?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> In truth, I'm not sure either.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, Snowpaw?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I hesitate to think about how many secrecy rules you're breaking right now</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, consider this an order from Ladybug to log off right now and return to your team leader</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Urg</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> You're as bad as my maman when she's telling me i can't do my research</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Which isn't much of a surprise as</p><p>
  <strong>SERVER carrier interrupt on user: Snowpaw_verified@miracunet.net</strong>
</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> speaking of your mother</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> you know that you're grounded and probably will be doing all the chores in the shop for a month?</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> assuming that you still exist</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> wut</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> The time stream is... flexible</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> If you alter the time stream enough, you might prevent your own birth</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> that's possible? </p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> You're a unique result of a unique moment, kiddo</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Change things and the outcome is different</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> hell, this means that they may have not got together at all!</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> as for you?</p><p>
  <strong>User @WascallyWabbit posted THANOSSNAPEFFECT.gif</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> eep</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> didn't think of that, did you o science prodigy girl?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> but it's not FAIR auntie b</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> chatting with them is so cool</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> they're my age right now</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> they'll be so much easier to get along with!</p><p><strong>@Whitespot:</strong> as well as all the drama happening and soon to happen</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> mom and dad are both doing this whole denial thing</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> auntie gami and auntie c haven't even met out of the mask yet</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> i mean... that whole cringy crash-and-burn marriage for show hasn't even happened yet? </p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> ykno between auntie c and the twins backstabbing sper</p><p>
  <strong>SERVER carrier interrupt on user: Snowpaw_verified@miracunet.net</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss TOSSED Rules for Posting.htm to @Whitespots</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> rule 9</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i figured this might happen one day, Snowpaw</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> o glitch</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> im never gonna get ungrounded am i?</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> look... i just wanted to hang out you with guys when you were young and cool</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> and not tyrants who make you do your non-academic homework, make you admit to liking socialising with anyone other than Skyeye and generally force you to not be this perfect scientist living on science alone that you think you can be?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Snowpaw? I understand what it is like to have to live with expectations that seem unrealistic</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> However, unlike with me, it seems that your parents are trying to help you fully enjoy life</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> if there is one thing i have learned since becoming Ryuuko, it is that one cannot find fulfilment following a single, narrow path</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> the world and its possibilities are vast and you must experience them too</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> yeah maman and grand-mère say that as well</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> my late mentor taught me that wisdom but I felt that I had to listen to... other voices instead that demanded my full and narrow focus</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> my greatest regret is that I will never be able to tell him that he was right.</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> You're so cool Auntie Gami... you still will be when you're maman's age!</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Okay, that's enough spoilers, kiddo</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> let's get out of here before we really do break something</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Snowpaw, i've got a feeling that we're going to meet anyway</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> maybe, if you think on what Ryuuko just told you, you'll realise that us "old folks" aren't that much of a problem after all!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> maybe it's just because your parents love you</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> maybe, if you try, you'll find that they can be cool even being old!</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> Okay, Auntie B, I surrender. gtg folks</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Babybug, I'm sorry about this. please, please, please try to forget  this  ever happened!</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> <span class="u">@BugBoss</span> It was so cool to talk to you way back when, Maman!</p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> um... is it too early to beg that you don't ground me for this stupid stunt? </p><p><strong>@Whitespots:</strong> 'cause i do love you!</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> EMILIE GINA AGRESTE! LOG OFF RIGHT NOW!</p><p>
  <strong>@Whitespots has LOGGED OUT of Chat</strong>
</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Um... Especially please forget that bit?</p><p>
  <strong>@WascallyWabbit has LOGGED OUT of Chat</strong>
</p>
<hr/><p>Marinette didn't key-bash by faceplant but it was a pretty near-run thing. That was Emma? She really <em>was</em> going to have a little girl called Emma? And she was specifically named for Adrien's mother and had Adrien's surname! <em>Did that mean that her father was...</em>?</p><p>Marinette was so enthralled by this train of thought that she didn't see the blue-white light behind her and didn't notice anything amiss until something shook deep inside her head and she suddenly felt the need to put her head down on her desk and fall into the deepest sleep.</p><p>Bunnyx adjusted the settings on her sonic screwdriver to switch from its' general stun mode to a resonance that would stop Marinette's short-term memory for the last fifteen minutes or so from being transferred to her long-term memory. After this, she'd be Burrowing back a few minutes and half-way aroun the world to make sure that Kagami didn't remember Emma's stunt either. After that, she'd need to sneak into the Miracuchat system and purge its logs! Urgh! The work of the Guardian of Causality was never done! Luka had better be awake and naked when she got home...</p><p>"Was it necessary to use that... <em>weapon</em> on her, Bunnyx?" Tikki crossed her arms crossly.</p><p>"The time-stream has to be preserved, Tikki. I've done this dozens of times and there's no long-term harm. If anything, I think that Mari-cutie here will have the best sleep of the last couple of years!"</p><p>The annoyed grunt uttered by the tiny Spirit of Creation was entirely at odds with her ultra-cute appearance. Tikki switched to the other cause of aggravation for her tonight. "How did Snowpaw get away from you?"</p><p>Bunnyx snorted with genuine humour. "Do you know how difficult it is to keep track of a girl who has the inventiveness of Ladybug and the sheer wild sense of adventure of Chat Noir? As well as seriously the most scary level of smarts of any girl in her generation?"</p><p>"I can imagine."</p><p>"Don't get me started about her training partner. The stubbornness of Chloe Bourgeois and the sheer raw cunning of the Graham de Vanily family isn't exactly a good combination either. Especially when the Gibbon hero in question has something to prove, in his own head, to a certain Snow Leopard hero!"</p><p>"So, this won't be happening again?" the Kwami of Creation asked</p><p>"Definitely not. There was good reason to let them train away from Conflagration's rampage but they're all obviously too smart and curious to expose them to temptation like this." Bunnyx sighed. "Or so I see in hindsight; not even <em>I</em> can see my personal future. Anyway, see you sooner than you might think, Tiks." With a gesture Bunnyx opened a Burrow and headed off to Japan.</p><p>"'No Spoilers' is a real 'do as I say, not as I do' thing with you, isn't it Alixandria?" Tikki muttered to herself.</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>Next day in Home Room, Marinette was confused. She'd forgotten something; something important. She was sure of that. So sure that she was filtering out Alya's excited babble about the latest A/V wireless headset for smartphones and how she was hoping to get one so she could film akuma battles with a 'headcam'. </p><p>Unconsciously, she brushed her fingers over the pink-purple-blue stripes she'd added to the lips of the pockets and cuff turn-ups on her black blazer. Even as subtle a coming out as this had been a huge step for her in terms of her anxiety and self-confidence issues but, having considered her reactions to so many things, especially to several boys and girls prominent in her life? Well, frankly, those reactions had been there for a while and she'd just not wanted to consider them. Tikki was right: She had to be true to herself and any journey started with a single step.</p><p>"Dupain-Ch... Marinette?"</p><p>Marinette snapped out of it and looked at Chloe. "What is it, Chloe?" Hey, just the right level of implied hostility. She was getting good at pretending that Ladybug and Marinette were two different young women!</p><p>"C... Can I talk to you? In private?"</p><p>Alya butted in. "Bourgeois, what you need to say to Mari..."</p><p>"Alya, it's okay!" Marinette didn't want Alya's hostility (ironic that Rena Rouge and Queen Bee were as thick as thieves sometimes) derailing Chloe into another argument. "What do you need, Chloe?"</p><p>Chloe was wringing her hands so hard that Marinette was genuinely worried that the blonde heiress would hurt herself. "I... Look, Marinette, I... I've been a world-class <em>bitch</em> to you for so long... and you deserve to know <em>why</em>. <em>Please</em>... this is hard enough... Don't make me do it in front of the whole class!"</p><p>Chloe had glanced towards a certain Italian girl, whose braying laughter as she regaled Rose, Mylène and a clearly-bored Juleka with some entirely-fictional exploit made Marinette grimace subtly. No, no-one sane wanted to discuss something sensitive and personal in Lila's hearing.</p><p>"Okay, let's head over to the A/V lab. Nothing should be happening there now."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Ententacler (Multimouse Returns, Part 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette had always resisted bringing back Multimouse. There were a thousand and one good reasons for this, not the least because Chat Noir knew her secret identity. Then, whilst carrying out her Guardian Duties to the Kwami, a circumstance emerged that meant that she no longer had a choice.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Doing something different for this fic and doing a near-entirely narrative chapter. This wasn't initially my intention for this part of the story but the more I sketched out events in my head the more I knew that I had to write out this confrontation in full and add it to the story. I'll be going back to mostly-chat activity from the next chapter, which may be sooner than you think, depending on how my muse treats me.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>Ladyblogger:</strong> So, girl, what's the what between you and everyone's vote for most surprising reformed school bully?</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> Sorry, what's that Alys?</p><p><strong>Ladyblogger:</strong> You and Chloe, Marinette! You and Chloe! :x</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> #O.O#</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> Oh, that</p><p><strong>Ladyblogger:</strong> Yes, that ::(</p><p><strong>Ladyblogger:</strong> So, spill</p><p><strong>Marinettedesings:</strong> There's very little so say, I guess</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> I mean, she's attractive; even naturally so when she doesn't feel she has to be this artificial supermodel-perfect; a girl could drown in those sea-blue eyes!</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> She can be cute, funny and even kindly too</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> But I'm still trying to work out in my own head the whole triangle between me, Adrien and Kagami </p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> I'm sort of trying to figure out if I want to risk trying something with Luka...</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> That new girl in Mme Mendelev's class, Melodié, outright asked me to go with her to the movies with her on Saturday</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> There's another guy I kind of think I might be getting to like too</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> No-one I'm ready to name</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> My head is so full of all these things that I can't do anyone else justice</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> Chloe's also high-maintenance and a real bottle of vinegar and a pitcher of salt</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> That said...</p><p><strong>Ladyblogger:</strong> That said?</p><p><strong>Marinettedesigns:</strong> If I didn't have so much happening...? Then I might have just taken a risk with her</p><p><strong>Ladyblogger:</strong> Still getting used to you being bi, girl. </p><p><strong>Ladyblogger:</strong> I mean, it's doubled the number of hotties I have to watch to see if you're interested in them! ;-D</p><hr/><p>If Marinette weren't so exhausted, she'd have laughed aloud at Alya's good-natured whimsy. As it was, today promised to be the single most stressful online day she'd <em>ever</em> had, so laughter was sort of off the agenda. </p><p>After bidding farewell to her best friend and shutting off her normal personal chat app, she turned from her 'phone to her laptop and desktop, both up and running the MiracuChat app. In an attempt to somehow make it possible to remember what character she was supposed to be without telling her secrets to her parents, she'd put a ladybird sticker on her PC monitor and a little cute mouse-head sticker on her laptop. With luck, that would be sufficient. </p><p>"You know, Marinette, this might work out for the best!" </p><p>Marinette shot the Ladybug Kwami of Creation a sour look. "I'm glad at least one person thinks so, Tikki! I'm sort of surprised that Master Fu hasn't already taken my Miraculous away!"</p><p>Tikki laughed. "For what reason? Using a different Miraculous than usual to protect lives whilst keeping your secret? If anything, you showed admirable quick thinking and I honestly believe that all the others are fooled!"</p><p>Mullo giggled and spoke up. "With the exception of Chat Noir of course! He knows that you are the new hero! I loved the look on his face!" </p><p>Marinette turned her eyes to the Mouse Kwami of Multiplication. "Yeah, that's the risk."</p><p>Tikki shook her head. "I don't think that it's a risk, Marinette. If anything, it makes your real secret even more secure from him randomly matching something about Ladybug and Marinette in his head!" Tikki and Mullo both floated down and cuddled up on either side of Marinette's face, making the girl's stress drop off noticeably. She breathed in a deep breath and allowed herself to draw reassurance from the two aeons-old Kwami's clear approval and support.</p><p>Tikki smiled. "This is going to work out, Marinette, you'll see! Master Fu believes in you for one important reason above all others: Your ideas, no matter how strange he finds them, have always been shown to be sensible in the end!"</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>Tikki was... exaggerating. A <em>little</em>, at least. Actually, Fu had initially been dogmatically opposed to Marinette's suggestion that she start taking a different second Miraculous with her every week. He was understandably worried that the more Miraculous were out of the Miracle Box, the more likely that one would get mislaid (as had led to Chloe first becoming Queen Bee), outright stolen or just inadvertently lead Hawkmoth or Mayura back to his hiding place. </p><p>However, after the fiasco with Trixx and Alya's desktop PC, even he had to admit that a lot of Kwami had far too little experience with the modern world, its artifacts and habits and that this would reduce their usefulness if they were needed by a hero. So it was that Marinette had been taking out a different second Miraculous for a week every week to 'exercise' the Kwami and let them get a little bit more used to the modern world. Initially, he had been strict that his Apprentice not risk activating them in parallel with the Ladybug because of the energy drain and strain of assimilating the powers and impulses of  two different Kwami might knock her out or drive her insane. However, after TigerBug had been critical in defeating an akuma called Eyesee, Fu had noticed that the girl didn't seem particularly weakened by lengthy Unifications. Instead he simply advocated caution and not using the spell too frequently and then had kindly dismissed his Apprentice, muttering something in the ancient Tibetoka dialect, in which all the Guardians' oldest secrets were kept, about '<em>chosen one</em>'.</p><p>Marinette had tried all of the Kwami now, with the exception of Okkido, who had to stay with the Master. She personally liked Roaar a lot and had, with some annoyance, denied to Tikki it was because she had enjoyed seeing things from Chat Noir's perspective as Tigerstripe. She'd kept Mullo for last, partly because she already had experience with the Mouse Miraculous but mostly because it was the one with the greatest attached security risk. After all, Chat knew perfectly well who the secret identity of Multimouse was!</p><p>So it was, as she sat in final period Literature that Friday, Marinette was listening to Tikki and Mullo in her purse, squeaking in a language that Master Fu had confirmed no human knew, had ever known or, perhaps, could even <em>possibly learn</em>. The bronze coin that was the camouflage mode of the Mouse Miraculous was around her throat and Adrien had earned a slight blush by complimenting her on her choice of jewellery. There was something <em>familiar</em> about the way he had <em>purred</em> "It suits you, Princess" to her but she was too tired and too desperately trying to concentrate on the last few minutes of Mlle Bustier's uninspired lecture on Vichy-era French poetry to process it at the moment. Lila was not making this much easier, having boldly left her desk, hitched her hip up on the corner of Marinette's desk and addressed Alya as if her noirette rival were <em>not even present</em>.</p><p>"So, Alya, I was thinking of taking everyone to the new celebrity sushi bar in the 5th Arrondisment. The chef is an old friend of mine and I'm <em>sure</em> I can get us big discounts..." Lila was somehow managing to look seductive <em>and</em> humble at the same time. As much as Marinette despised the Italian pathological liar, a small part of her had to admire her total mastery of false body language. If Marinette didn't know how to interpret the cunning and malice in the girl's hazel eyes, she'd think that the offer was honest. As it was, she suspected that the plan was to find that her 'friend' had already quit and to ask her 'school friends' to pay for her when it turns out she had given all her money to some obscure charity.</p><p>Alya's reply was surprising and uplifting. "Lila, I'm sorry but I'm already booked up for tonight!" Alya looked over to Marinette and nodded respectfully. "A few days back, Marinette invited me, Juleka, Rose and Mylène over to her place tonight and we've already promised to come! We're gonna meet some new friend of hers too!"</p><p>Lila opened her mouth for a moment. Alya turned back to her and patted the other girl's shoulder in a friendly and supportive way. "Lila, you and Mari are water and sodium. I'd try to talk her into letting you come but after those misunderstandings about you falling down the stairs and you mistaking your notebook for her sketch-book a couple of days back? It'd end in a fight and you know it!" Alya smiled in a reassuring and loving way. "We'll do something together on the weekend. Heck, we can go to the restaurant then!" </p><p>Much to Marinette's shock, Lila didn't agree and didn't even mildly brush Alya off, making out that she was making a huge sacrifice for the good of class harmony. Instead, the olive-skinned beauty went deep red in the face and pushed Alya, <em>hard</em>. The Martiniquan girl was shoved off of the bench and went sprawling onto the staircase. Marinette was on her feet on a moment, shoving Lila away and everyone else reacted to Alya's cry of shock and pain. "What the hell, Alya?" Lila spat and very loudly. "Did you forget that she's a <em>bully</em>? That some days I'm <em>scared</em> of her to the point where I'm afraid to come to school? That I told you to tell Ladybug that she's maybe helping Hawkmoth and that I <em>need help</em>? You choose to respond to this by going over to her place to have a little party without <em>poor little Lila</em>, huh?" Lila spun to the rest of the class, who were staring at her in bemusement. Even Mlle Bustier, who normally was Old Queen Log and let things escalate until they started to annoy her, was on her feet. The only one not looking shocked and horrified was Chloe, who looked like she was restraining her urge to start cackling as Lila continued, her voice continuing to rise in anger and well-acted fake horror. "Well, is that the way the rest of you feel? Am I going <em>lose all my so-called 'friends'</em> to the worst kind of bully? To a <em>terrorist</em>?!? Is that the side you're taking?!?"</p><p>Alya, as was her nature, was not cowed. Instead she stood, crossed the distance to the near-vibrating Lila and gently grasped her shoulder, trying to restrain her without obviously doing so. "Girl, we talked about this. I don't care what has happened between you or how much you think she's out to get you because you're interested in Adrien too. The thought of her <em>helping Hawkmoth</em> short of being akumatised is just <em>paranoia</em>. I told you that you need to talk Adrien's dad into giving you fewer shoots; you're overtired and it's making you think crazy!"</p><p>"She's right, Lila! Marinette would never do something like that!" Rose's voice, although sweet, held the sort of resolve that the pixie-like blonde could only manage when she was really sure about something. Juleka nodded firmly, quiet but determined, squeezing Rose's hands in a show of support.</p><p>"Just sit down and take a breath, Lila," Mylène added quietly. "You know that Marinette would never do something like that. You just need to be calm and find your centre..."</p><p>"My calculations show the likelihood of someone of Marinette's personality type willingly choosing to aid a violent, narcissistic psychopath such as Hawkmoth is certainly less than..." Max fell silent as Lila speared him with a look that would burn a hole straight through plate steel. </p><p>Marinette somehow avoided bursting into joyous tears at her classmates'... her <em>friends'</em>... total support. She hadn't even been aware of Lila's latest scheme and it seems that her friends had chosen her after all. No matter good Lila's histrionics and her attempt to create this alternate reality where Marinette was the bad guy, in the very end, her friends had remembered <em>who</em> she was and <em>what</em> she was. They had <em>chosen her</em>!</p><p>So happy was Marinette that she barely noted Lila storming out of the classroom, not in crocodile tears as she would normally be but with her face twisted into a rictus of murderous rage. She didn't really care for the vile girl's absence until the doors were torn off their hinges and <em>something</em> stormed in. Something that had once been Lila Rossi and was now in an eye-straining colour palette of red, green, purple and metallic silver. It had at least six octopus-like tentacles in the place of its arms, her hair transformed into yet more (thankfully unmoving) tentacles and its chest and abdomen were a writing forest of dozens of smaller tentacles that were snatching at the air as if eager to strangle someone. When it spoke, it was in a metallic screech filled with malicious glee.</p><p>"<strong>I AM ENTENTACLER! I WILL NOT BE ABANDONED BY THOSE I CHOSE AS MY ADORNMENTS AND POSSESSIONS, NOT NOW I WAS SO CLOSE TO DESTROYING MY ENEMY! AND ONCE I DELIVER THE LADYBUG AND BLACK CAT MIRACULII TO MY LORD HAWKMOTH, NO-ONE WILL EVER DARE DO SO AGAIN!</strong>"</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>
  <em>Merde! Merde! Merde!</em>
</p><p>As she cowered behind her overturned desk, Marinette had no idea how it had managed to go so bad so quickly. </p><p>Ententacler had immediately started snatching Marinette's classmates from their desks and stretching them across her body like grotesque living clothing. A part of Marinette wondered what this revealed about what was going on inside the Italian girl's scrambled grey matter but that was something to consider later when she wasn't in immediate danger of being grabbed and probably torn in two with those freakishly strong tentacles. </p><p>Chloe had vanished very quickly, which was good because Chloe had been taking a lasting joy in pricking Lila's fragile ego of late. Marinette figured that she would be as much a target for special harm from the akumatised villain as Marinette was herself. Probably more of her classmates would have been included in the squirming mass of shrieking, hysterical teenagers (and one twenty-something  teacher) entangled around Ententacler's body if Nino had not been the most level-headed person in the class and had transformed when <em>literally no-one was watching or caring what he was doing</em>. Now, Carapace was poised in front of Adrien (who looked more angry than scared) and somehow blocking every attempted snatch and thrown bit of debris with the Turtle Shield. Alya was also not in sight but Marinette imagined that she was somewhere transforming into Rena Rouge after having first set up various webcams to capture the battle.</p><p>"Marinette, we have to do something!" Tikki hissed urgently in the girl's ear.</p><p>"I know Tikki!" <em>This is ridiculous, even if I transformed, Ententacler's reach is so long that it would grab me in seconds the minute I broke cover! How do I stop her when there's nowhere to go...? If I still had the Tiger, I could use Outline Break to go invisible but I've got the Mouse instead and the only thing it can do...</em></p><p>Marinette felt very, very stupid because it was actually <em>that simple</em>. "Okay, Tikki, get up to the roof over the classroom. I've got a plan." The noirette drew in a deep breath. "MULLO! LET'S GET SQUEAKY!" With a flash of silver-pink, Marinette found herself once again in the grey and black with pink highlights garb of Multimouse. Okay, now for the bit that had just occurred to her. "<strong>MULTIPLICITY!</strong>" Where there had been just one Multimouse, there were in seconds about two dozen <em>Multimice</em>. Standing around 5 centimetres tall, the magical clones were basically unseen as they scrambled over the obstacle course that the floor of the classroom had become on those size scales.</p><p>Ententacler only noticed something amiss when it noticed dozens of little forms scaling her body. "<strong>I... WHAT? WHAT ARE THESE VERMIN? GET OFF OF ME! GET...!</strong>" Like all Miraculous heroes, Multimouse had the natural abilities of her animal totem. In this case, a mouse's lightning-fast movements sharp claws to aid climbing and a bite that could gnaw its way through anything less dense than sheet metal. She easily dodged the akumatised villain's disgusted attempts to brush her off and she began to scratch and bite at every tentacle bound around her friends and classmates. </p><p>She wouldn't ever describe the taste, only to say that escargot had been ruined for her for life. Ententacler cried out in genuine and panicked pain and her tentacles responded to injury much like any muscle group would, stretching to their full extension and dropping her prisoners limply to the floor. </p><p>At that moment, Rena Rouge dropped through a skylight, bounced off of the wall at the back of the class and, leading with the Fox Flute, rammed right into Ententacular's face, launching the akumatised villain into the far wall with a wail of murderous fury. Rena looked down at the dozens of grey-clad mini-heroes in patent shock. "Hey, new girl! Who are you?"</p><p>"<strong>SINGULARITY!</strong>" In a few seconds, Rena and the new hero were eye-to-eye. "Call me Multimouse. You and Carapace cover the civilians' withdrawal and then head up to the roof; Ladybug is there; I'll lure Ententacler away!" The akumatised Lila was staggering to its feet. Multimouse drew her Tail Rope. </p><p>"<strong>WHOEVER YOU ARE, YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN MULTIPLE PIECES WITHOUT MAGICAL AID!</strong>" The Lila-thing screeched, lashing out with her primary tentacles. Somehow, Multimouse dodged around each blow and, with each tentacle outstretched took  the opening to whip the Tail Rope around the monster's neck and yank it forward and down, slamming it face-first through Mlle B's desk. </p><p>"Catch me if you can you cheap Sharktopus rip-off!" she yelled before sticking her tongue out at the outraged supervillain and jumped through the courtyard windows with a visually spectacular explosion of shattering plate glass. </p><p>"<strong>COME BAAACK YOU COWARD!</strong>" Temporarily blinded by the change from the darkened classroom to natural daylight, Ententacler didn't see Multimouse jump vertically up onto the roof.</p><p><em>No-one here. Good.</em> "Mullo, let's get quiet!" Marinette detransformed and, in a practiced motion, handed a slightly frazzled-looking Mullo a crystallised jellied fruit piece. "Hide until I call," the girl said urgently as the glowing pink form of the Kwami of Creation flew up to her. "TIKKI! SPOTS ON!" As the pink light of transformation faded to reveal Ladybug, the fire escape door to the roof burst open and Carapace, Rena and Queen Bee came running out. "Hey, guys! Where's Chat Noir?"</p><p>Chat answered Ladybug's question by exploding out of the classroom window and delivering a blurring-fast series of staff-blows to the roots of the akumatised monster's tentacles, sending it staggering back and clearly briefly paralysing them. "Woah! Looks like someone had a fashion <em>calamari</em>-ty! So, Tentacle-gal, you got your cease and desist from all the horror movie studios yet?"</p><p>Enraged far beyond the point of eloquence and possibly even rational thought, Ententacler lashed out at Chat Noir. The hyper-agile cat hero almost contemptuously evaded, something far easier in the open recess yard, and began to race around the fence. In a sudden move, the blond cat hero bounced off of one side, vaulted across the breadth of the yard and landed in front of the cage holding dozens of basketballs and volleyballs. Ententacler didn't even try to snatch him, instead of charging right at him with an inhuman scream of rage. Chat leapt out of the way and the monster tried to follow but the cage just seemed to fall apart, sending balls, subtly glowing black, to tumble out. As the villain tried to follow its foe, it somehow managed to slip on <em>every single ball</em>, making them discharge their black aura, and was sent sprawling multiple times, finally ending with a huge faceplant.</p><p>Ladybug frowned. <em>That wasn't Cataclysm. What he heck did Chat just do?</em> She could analyse later. She unhooked the Ladybug yo-yo and launched it into the air. "<strong>LUCKYYY CHARM!</strong>" The other three heroes blinked in confusion as a pack of croquet hoops dropped in to their leader's waiting hands. Ladybug quickly glanced down at the recess yard and smiled in a confident way as Rena, Chat, the Lucky Charm of Ententacler's longer pseudopods all lit up in her sight. "Carapace, keep her from escaping. Rena, I need her to be reaching in lots of directions. Queen Bee, stand by, you're with me!" </p><p>"Gotya Boss-Dudette. <strong>SHELL-TER!</strong>" Carapace had been practising with his powers and could now protect remote locations with his powers, creating shield geometries other than bubbles. In this case, he leapt from the roof and circumnavigated the yard, creating a 10-metre high inwardly-curved wall of shield energy outside the fence.</p><p>Simultaneously, Rena raised the Fox Flute to her lips and began to breathe out a haunting and somewhat soothing melody. "<strong>MIRAGE!</strong>" A ball of orange energy shot out of the end of the flute and split into multiple sparks that resolved into a dozen fake Chats. All of them began to spit insults in the forms of horrible cephalopod puns. Ententacler turned from her hopeless pounding on Carapace's shield wall and turned towards the Chats as they ran around the villain, continuing to torment it with possibly the most horrible punning insults ever. In moments, the monster was standing dead-centre of the yard, her back to Carapace and her tentacles outstretched and trying to grab one of the Chats... <em>any</em> of them.</p><p>"CAP! NOW!" Ladybug yelled, bracing to jump. Long hours of practice paid off; Carapace didn't need more elaborate instructions. He hurled the  Turtle Shield like his favourite fictional superhero, Captain America of the Avengers. The disc slammed into the back of Ententacler's knees, sending her sprawling onto her back. "Let's do it, Queen Bee!" Ladybug called as she threw the black-spotted red croquet hoops into the air.</p><p>The Ladybug and Bee heroes leapt up into the air, the Ladybug Yo-yo and the Bee Trompo just a colourful circle as they whirled. Ladybug and Queen Bee quickly struck the croquet hoops out of the air one-by-one with their whirling tools, sending them zipping down like U-shaped projectiles, each pinning one tentacle or another until all of Ententacler's long tentacles were pinned at multiple points against the ground. The prone and pinned akumatised monster screamed in frustration and strained with all her strength to rip the hoops out of the asphalt but she wasn't going to get the time.</p><p>"Queen Bee, you're up!"</p><p>"<strong>VENOM!</strong>" Queen Bee dived right down and drove the point of the Bee Trompo into the centre  of Ententacler's chest before leaping clear. Each of the shorter tentacles went still and the villain's struggles ceased. Not dead but utterly paralysed.</p><p>Ladybug almost lazily strode up to the monster. "Anyone got any ideas where the akuma is hidden?"</p><p>"Reckon it's the belt-buckle," Rena suggested.</p><p>Carapace nodded. "Foxy-babe is right; she kept moving hostages in front of it to protect in when we were fighting in the classroom!"</p><p>Ladybug frowned but agreed with her team-mates analysis. She absolutely <em>despised</em> the novelty faux-silver buckle with a noticeably-wrong fake Jagged Stone 'Lion of Rock' motif on the the front. Come to think of it, that rather desperation-level attempt to persuade the class that she <em>was</em> Uncle Jag's favourite non-blood niece was probably one of the things that persuaded the class to start looking at Lila in a less-credulous way. Thanks to Marinette's work on the King of Rock's promotional art and wardrobe, everyone in Mlle B's class knew what Jagged Stone's logo looked like and knew it <em>didn't look like that</em>. Ladybug briefly thought about tearing it off and smashing it but that might take time and the Venom effect didn't last forever. "Chaton, you would?"</p><p>"Of course, M'lady. <strong>CATACLYSM!</strong>" His right hand crackling with raw entropy, Chat Noir slashed his claws across the buckle that corroded away like the cheap nickel-chrome it was, releasing an unearthly black butterfly glowing with ultraviolet light. As it did so, Entenacler dissolved into purple smoke that burned away, revealing a seething Lila Rossi who glared around at the heroes with undisguised hatred and resentment.</p><p>Ladybug whirled her yo-yo and let fly at the retreating butterfly. "Not so fast, little Akuma! <em>I cleanse you of evil!</em>" The butterfly was scooped up in an instant. Ladybug held up her tool and drew a finger-tip along its top surface, making it break open like the wing cases of her namesake. A pure white butterfly emerged and fluttered away. Ladybug waved the suddenly almost awesomely-pure insect farewell. "<em>Au revoir, petit papillion!</em>" Ladybug turned to Queen Bee with a smile as the other insect-themed superhero handed her the croquet hoops. Without hesitation, she launched them up into the sky. "<strong>MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!</strong>" The Lucky Charm disintegrated into ten-thousand magical ladybirds that swarmed out, sweeping over the damaged school, restoring the ball cage, repairing the shattered windows and the devastated class room as if nothing had happened.</p><p>Lila had recovered enough to try to spin her lies. "L... Ladybug! Thank goodness you're here! I... I think that some of my classmates are in league with Hawkmoth! I was going to expose them and he akumatised me to try to silence me..."</p><p>"Don't bother, Signoretti, Rossi," Ladybug hissed to a medley of timer bleeps from her and her team. "Please, just don't bother."</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>"Okay, gang, I'm going to report to the guardians. Don't stay too long; none of you have more than three minutes on your timers!" Ladybug leapt off the roof, cast her yo-yo and swung behind the tall roofs of the roads around her home. With a tired smile, she handed Tikki a cookie whilst hissing Mullo's name. On an instinct she transformed back into Multimouse and, using her Tail Rope, swung low down the road behind the bakery and then up into a graceful flip that landed her on the roof of the school in front of Rena, Queen Bee, Carapace and Chat Noir.</p><p>"Guys! Sorry! I need to learn to do this faster! I didn't have anything to feed my Kwami so I had to run home and find something they'd like! I've only just been able to get back..."</p><p>"You did your part, kiddo," Rena said with a reassuring smile, squeezing the Mouse Hero on the shoulder. "We certainly would have had a harder time rescuing the hostages without you!"</p><p>"Yeah, you weren't bad for a total newbie!" No prizes for guessing who that was.</p><p>"I'm glad to see that M'Lady saw sense. It's good to see you back where you belong... <em>Purrincess</em>." Multimouse actually <em>blushed</em> at the openly sensual undertones in Chat's voice. She stuttered for a moment. "I do hope that this a-<em>Mouse</em>-ing appearance won't be a one-off?"</p><p>"Dude, your timer is like down to two minutes!" Carapace managed not to laugh at the Mouse-in-the-lights frozen Multimouse with Chat stroking her cheek in an almost <em>reverential</em> way. Chat visibly jerked away, coming back to himself and reality with some reluctance.</p><p>Rena shook her head as she picked up the GoPro she'd left pointing down into the recess yard. "I have to get this stuff back to the Ladyblogger. Cap, you with me?" The Turtle hero nodded and followed his girlfriend, leaping off into the distance.</p><p>"I... think I should get back to cl... I mean get back home," Multimouse offered quietly. </p><p>"I'll escort..." </p><p>"No, Chat, that isn't necessary. Please." Multimouse drew in a deep breath and took a huge risk. "You know where to find me. Tonight at eight, please." Chat seemed about to rebel for a moment, then nodded in sudden agreement and sprung off of the roof, using his staff like a pogo-stick, leaving Paris's seemingly but not really newest heroine standing alone on the school roof.</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>Marinette rubbed the bridge of her nose. She'd been so proud of Rule 4 and was sure it would keep Chat from causing this problem with her multiple secret identities. As it turns out, she was the one to turn it into a trap.</p><p>"You've got this Marinette!" Mullo, of all beings, offered. "If there is nothing else I can teach you, it is that you can be many people, in many places and all at the same time!"</p><p>Tikki nodded with a big smile. "Mullo's right! It's the sort of test a Guardian has to pass in order to guard their secrets!"</p><p>Marinette offered her two friends a rather shaky smile. "Assuming that I don't go D.I.D. in the process!" She shook her head; there was no point trying to avoid this. There was no changing the past unless she wanted to try to persuade the Master and Fluff that it was necessary and she couldn't really even manage that with <em>herself</em>.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, everyone here?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> been waiting on you m'lady</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> So, hot 'n' red, I'm thinking  that you've got a big announcement?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> We've been placing bets as to what you're gonna say. XD</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Yeah, especially as you seem to have been so hot telling Chat that she's permanently out! XD</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Which was weird, seeing how good she was!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> So, what's the story, boss-dudette?</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss INVITES @NarrowSqueak</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Guys, meet Multimouse.</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Um wow! A superhero chatroom, just like you said! </p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> ... Hi everyone?</p><p>
  <em>To be continued...</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chat and Mouse (Multimouse Returns, Part 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The consequences of the defeat of Ententacler turn out to be a bit greater than just the defeat of another villain and the reactivation of a certain Mouse hero. In some ways, nothing will be the same again.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'll be honest. 'Multimouse Returns' has suffered from a hell of a lot of bloat. It was initially going to be a PART of just one chapter, now it's two WHOLE CHAPTERS and it barely scraped under my bar for not dividing it into *three* chapters!</p><p>That said, I'm glad that I've got around to posting this two parter. It's my favourite bit of the story so far and I'm enjoying having an active Multimouse that Chat *knows* is Marinette impact on the dynamics of the team.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette was surprised how easy it was to get 'into the rhythm' of not confusing Multimouse's more 'Marinette' persona (nervous and a bit overwhelmed) compared to the 'I am the leader, trust me' super-confident persona she used as Ladybug. Even so, keeping secrets from leaking out was hard, particularly as Chloe seemed to somehow have her suspicions about Multimouse's real identity.</p><p>Having separate input devices helped. She wasn't looking forward to trying this with different browser tabs instead!</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Girl! Welcome! Chat is so hot for you that I really want to know what's the secret!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Looking forward to knowing you dudette</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Hey, Purrincess! Also <span class="u">@Foxybabe</span> bite me</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Couldn't think of any better choice!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> er</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i mean glad to see Ladybug is finally getting other people to carry some of the weight! </p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> It is good to finally have the chance to meet the one that Chat describes so highly, Multimouse</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> Um... This is kind of weird... </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> What is, scaly?</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> Nothing... Weird double-vision for a moment; probably need more sleep</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Not for us, V; Guys' Patrol Night, remember? </p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Why do the ladies want us out of their hair tonight anyway?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It's mostly a matter of aesthetics</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> XD</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Did you just give Chat Noir a burn?!?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It's sort of a requirement of membership these days</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> sad but trufax</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> Anyway, welcome to the team, Multimouse. You can hang with me and ask me anything you want anytime you need to know.</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Thank you vipereon</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Also hello everyone; great to finally get to interact with everyone...</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Y'know... without some badly colour-coordinated akumatised lunatic trying to kill us?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Hero's burden, mousey. can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Honey, be nice</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> MM, I'm sorry to get you tangled up in this after letting you think that you were off the team</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Thank you for giving me another chance, Ladybug! I promise not to let you down this time!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Oh god, she's a perfect cinnamon roll</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You and Carapace probably saved the situation this afternoon so... </p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> What m'lady is saying is we believe in you</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> +1 ditto</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> guys, confession time?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> wanted me to apologise to you guys for her</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> she never knew that Lila Rossi was so messed up in her head</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> consider my nominatoin for her withdrawn</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Nomination?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Lila Rossi was nominated to be a Miraculous Holder at the Ladyblogger's recommendation</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Also <span class="u">@Foxybabe</span> nominatoin soda pls</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> curse yooouuu!!!</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> I missed it... I actually missed it</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Perhaps you really are too tired to patrol tonight, Vipereon</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I would offer to 'spot you' as I believe the phrase is but, regrettably, I have an unavoidable commitment tonight</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Regrettably?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> no. I believe that is what is known as a 'polite white lie'</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Im still kinda speechless that but for a process, Lila might have got a miraculous</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i mean... that would basically mean we have three supervillains now?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> we wouldn't let her hurt anyone, mousey; lila will be okay once she's had a chance to wind down and maybe get some treatment</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> donb't hold up your hopes, red</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> *don't and also d'oh</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> dang ninja'd again</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> srsly, some issues like that...?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> well, they can't be fixed</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> yeah</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> is kind of shook up how she blew up at everyone and started trying to sic us on them</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> all those good times together were suddenly nothing to her and for what?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> her friends not flaking on <span class="u">@marinettedesigns</span> for her on demand</p><p><strong>@BugBabe:</strong> the thing is rena that we can't save everyone</p><p><strong>@BugBabe:</strong> that's a fact that will haunt me as long as I hold the Ladybug Miraculous</p><hr/><p>Marinette sighed. Once again, Alya had come close to outing herself over Lila. She knew that her best friend was badly shaken by Lila's switching on her so suddenly and so totally. She guessed that there was still a lot of denial to work through but, thanks to the Chat, she at least had the team supporting her.</p><p>The girl shook her head and switched back to business mode. Stuff had come up that needed to be discussed. The fact that Master Fu didn't know the answers as soon as he heard Marinette's report was... <em>disturbing</em>. It reminded the girl again that her teacher didn't know everything about what the Miraculous could and could not do.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> So, unusually, I have taken the time to look at <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span>'s report on the fight against #Ententacler</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> unusually? :'(</p><p><strong>@BugBoss</strong>: Rena, no offence to your friend but I have no desire to relive those fights more than i absolutely have to</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> more than i know i do in nightmares</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss posted TentaculerClip_ballcage.mp4</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@Cool4Catz</span> Chaton what the hell was that you did there? </p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i really don't know, m'lady</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> should i be worried that apparently we can use powers without knowing what they are?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> um yes?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> +1 ditto</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> no-one wants to suddenly develop abilities that we can use without consciously commanding them in some way</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i can tell you that i knew something was building in me</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> after i first took on <span class="u">#Ententacler</span>, it felt like i'd triggered Cataclysm but not so strong</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> looking at hte footage, its weird like suddenly there was a focus of... bad luck?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> hte, you owe me a soda</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> also, yeah that's exactly what I saw too</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> lock broke at just the right moment and somehow every ball somehow got under her feet</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> she took damage too; she was badly shaken and nowhere near as tough or strong as she was when she was fighting shelly and mousey</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> it definitely started when i shot a quip at her; i wanted to slow her down at that moment</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> based on what i remember saying... did i cause her to suffer a Calameowty?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i vote that Chat receive a demerit for naming his new power with a cheap cat pun</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> So, that's what we're saying? It's a new power? That happens?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> ive been speaking to the guardians and they're not sure as they don't have access to all the records</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> @Cool4Catz at least you did *trigger* it even if you didn't know that was what you were doing at the time</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> uncontrollable powers give me the shivers just thinking about them</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> we have been training a lot</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> any athlete will tell you that training will improve stamina, skill and strength</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> could that be happening with our powers? </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> that's a real possibility Storm Babe</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Chat and Red'n'hot are the most experienced of us by months tho</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i'd expect them to be well ahead of the rest of us in terms of xp</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> well, at least that gives us something to look for; i'll talk to the guardians again</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> oh god, did queen bee use a gamer reference</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> queen bee, please please please tell me that you're a gamer</p><p><strong>@QueenBee:</strong> not by torture or threat, mousey not by torture or threat</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> :-p</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> 'course, this means Chat's suddenly our heavy hitter; two moves, one of which doesn't trigger his timer</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> it did but in a weird way</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> the face of my ring inverted colours, to black on green i mean and my counter ran down in maybe a minute</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i was panicking and expecting to detransform in the middle of a fight while trapped inside <span class="u">@NotARenaissanceArtist</span>'s shield bubble but, when the last pip vanished, my miraculous went back to normal</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> sounds like cooldown timer to me</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> that's exactly what i thought, o sister gamer</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> not. by. torture. or. threat.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> okay, no-one do anything stupid but if, on patrol or in training, something weird happens, especially if you get a 'cooldown timer' after doing something new, let me know</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I assume that this includes me developing wings the way you and Queen Bee did during the battle?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> ???</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> wut</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Ah... so no-one else noticed how you two managed such a long 'hang time' in your jumps yesterday.</p><p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl posted LB_QB-EnergyWings.gif</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Huh. Oh. Okay, how does that happen without me even *noticing* it?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Stormy, can I give that gif to <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> to put on her site?</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> Well... They're pretty, y'know, with the colour coordination to your powers and all?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Yes, I suppose it was a bit silly being a bee without wings</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'm definitely talking to the guardians about this again</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> so, subject switch</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> um, this is awkward with her maybe being crazy or something but <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> asked me to pass on a question on behalf of <span class="u">#Ententacler</span></p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> ???</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> yeah, i know</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Anyway... can you get rabies or the plague from Multimouse bites?</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> what the HELL, Rena?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> that's pushing past the limit Rena Rouge; start thinking hard about yourself!</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> the possibility is both unlikely and highly insulting</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss MUTED all participants</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Okay, folks, cool down. We're friends here, remember?</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss UNMUTED all participants</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Geez, guys, it's not for me, it's for someone else! She was just ranting on about she was still getting pains all over from all the places where Multimouse bit her!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> turns out those tentacles were transformed parts of her and she's still sore</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> she's really worried that there might be some long-lasting side-effects</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i've never been bitten by a wild animal in my life. So the likelihood that I'm a carrier of either Rabies or Bubonic Plague is precisely zero, thank you Rena Rouge</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> girl, i'm sorry; i don't think that of you at all!</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> says lila's panicking about getting something and wants to reassure her by actually confirming that a hero says there's no risk</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> kinda morbid, isn't it? watching yourself as an akuma getting beaten down by heroes?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Not something I'd do and i'm speaking as someone continually struggling with narcissistic impulses</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> no, she told <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> about it when she was loaded on the ambulance; that was way before the video went up</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> what</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Rena, there is absolutely no precedent of any akuma host remembering more than a few flashes of emotion or particularly intense events</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> that's right; i've never had more than a few flashes of <span class="u">#QueenWasp</span> or <span class="u">#AntiBug</span></p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> mostly split-second flashes of <span class="u">@BugBoss</span> hitting me hard enough that I still have phantom pains from shattered bones</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> sorry about that, sweet honey</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> noprobs deserved it</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Queen Bee is correct; I have been akumatised too and I have no meaningful memories other than rage, unintelligible motions, sounds and the occasional blast of agony</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> has never remembered #LadyWiFi that I know of. So, it isn't just her?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> the record holder is <span class="u">#Evillustrator</span> who has a perfect recall of sailing down the Seine in a gondola with @marinettedesigns for five minutes or so but nothing else</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> but lila remembers every part of <span class="u">#Volpina</span>, <span class="u">#Chameleon</span> and <span class="u">#Ententacler</span></p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> she never stops rattling on about watching the villains as a kind of passenger; she says she was silently shouting threats at Hawkmoth all the time that Ladybug would save her and get him</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> rena, the guardians told me that the akumatisation process overrides the host's conscious mind, creating a 'false psyche' based on the cause of their rage that completely takes them over and stops their normal mind working at all</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> the only reason <span class="u">#Evillustrator</span> remembers what he does is because that was very much the host in control at that moment, his heart and honest desires, not the akuma-empowered false psyche</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> the only way lila could remember what she does</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> would be if she'd accepted the power willingly and had chosen to do Hawkmoth's bidding whilst fully aware in exchange for power without her mind clouded at all</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> brb</p><hr/><p>In her bedroom, Alya Cesaire, the Ladyblogger, Rena Rouge, snatched up her waste-paper basket barely in time before she started to vomit uncontrollably in terror and sobbing in horror as she thought of the <em>monster</em> that she'd left alone with her little sisters and Nino's little brother. </p><p>Her computer bleeped urgently at her for attention as Trixx hugged the side of her face and begged her to be strong and to remember that her friends were there for her.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Babe? Babe are you there?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Babe?</p><p><strong>@NotARenassanceArtist:</strong> Rena?</p><p>
  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
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  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
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  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> shouldn't she reply by now?</p><p>
  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
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  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
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  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
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  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> fuck, lb, what's happening?</p><p>
  <strong>ping @Foxybabe</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> shit</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@NotARenaissanceArtist</span> meet me on the roof of the Dupain-Cheng Patisserie (<span class="u">map</span>)</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'm gonna dm the guardians for Rena's home address</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Everyone else transform and converge on the rendezvous point</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@NarrowSqueak</span> <span class="u">@SnekCharmer</span> you're backstops; wait at Collège Francois Dupont (<span class="u">map</span>) and watch our backs when we go in</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> We go in expecting the worst</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> No, im fine</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> i had to message <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> on all her accounts to warn her to stay away from that fucking bitch</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> she needs to hide what she knows or</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> if she's capable of working with hawkmoth there's no telling what she'd do to protect her secret</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> says she babysat for her family</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> the kids all seem fine but</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> god what might she have done?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> rena, ease down</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> lb, do you think that we should have a patrol around <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span>'s home just for a few nights?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> I think that's wise m'lady</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> she's petty and she'll be looking for payback; <span class="u">#Ententacler</span> shows she doesn't like being 'abandoned'</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> mark me down for the first shift</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I recommend that Queen Bee, Chat Noir and I *explain* to Rossi-baka that she has chosen her side in this war... poorly</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss is writing a REPLY</strong>
</p><hr/><p>"What are you thinking, Marinette?" </p><p>Marinette rubbed her chin for a few moments before looking over at Tikki. "I'm thinking that only a fool would underestimate someone like Lila Rossi. I want to believe that Alya is over-reacting to the realisation of just what a bad person Lila is but I also wonder if we should be cautious."</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> okay, ease down people</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> there's nothing to be gained by going off half-cocked</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@Foxybabe</span> firstly, don't you dare ever frighten me like that again</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> secondly, <span class="u">@DragonGrrrl</span>, as much as an evil part of me loves the idea of roughing up a willing enemy, we're not about to start being judge, jury and executioner</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> things aren't that bad and, god willing, they never will be</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> what about the family</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'll watch the Italian embassy; lila must have been released from hospital by now</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@NarrowSqueak</span>, you've got first watch at <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span>'s place</p><p><strong>@SnekCharmer:</strong> you guys have got school tomorrow morning so i'll take the AM shift on the house</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@Foxybabe</span>, dm me <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span>'s schedule for tomorrow pm; we'll get someone to shadow her</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> put me down for that</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> thank you</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> thank you all </p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> how did i get so lucky to have friends like you</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> god i love you all</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> booting all. we're all too strung out right now. room closed for 1 hour except for sos or akuma</p><p>
  <strong>ADMIN LOCK on Chat Room to elapse in 0:59:43</strong>
</p><p>AKUMA ALERT -- SOS SIGNAL</p><hr/><p>Marinette leaned back with a groan; she wasn't expecting things to suddenly spiral like that when Alya found out just who and what Lila really was. Seriously, she didn't think it was in Lila's nature to strike back in an overt way but she'd been acting a bit strange of late. Basically ever since she'd had to abort a plot to use Rose, Mylène and Ivan to collect money for one of the 'charities' she was allegely running for Prince Ali then she'd started getting aggressive and sloppy. Marinette suspected that the Italian girl wasn't good at losing and there was no way of being sure how she'd respond to losing on the scale that had just happened to her.</p><p>"Well, that was unexpectedly dramatic." </p><p>Marinette rolled her eyes at Mullo. "Just a part of being an active Miraculous, I guess."</p><p>Mullo nodded. "Tikki, what do you think are the chances of the Dark One attempting a revenge attack?"</p><p>Tikki frowned. "Mullo, I haven't met a spirit that filled with spite and self-delusion about what is right and wrong since Bishop Winchester in Jeanne's time. At the very least, we should be cautious. At the worst, I believe that the Master Guardian should be asked to consider deploying Ziggy's full power."</p><p>Marinette frowned thoughtfully. She knew that the Goat Miraculous was all about willpower but what could the easy-going country-drawling Goat Kwami's 'full power' be?</p><p>There was time for that conversation later. Right now, she had a job to do and it was for a friend. "MULLO, LET'S GET SQUEAKY!"</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>Alya was pacing around her bedroom like one of the big cats rescued from a low-quality circus that she occasionally watched her father caring for and stroking the Fox Miraculous like it was a protection charm against evil. The initial panic reaction was gone as was the urge to transform into Rena Rouge and crouch in front of Ella and Etta's beds like a vixen guarding her cubs, thank god. That would be just too hard to explain to her parents if she finally fell asleep and they came to wake up the twins only to find a <em>superhero</em> napping on the rug between their beds. </p><p>That didn't stop Alya from feeling agitated and more than a little trapped. She'd figure out how to explain to her subscribers that she'd been giving a platform to the lies of a supervillain tomorrow. However, she deleted Lila's interview <em>tonight</em> and was running a tapeworm edit bot on the blog's wiki to remove every reference to Lila being Ladybug's best friend from it. </p><p><em>I'm an idiot. The first plausible that liar comes along and I start sucking up everything she says because it benefits me for it to be true. What the hell, Alys? What the hell?</em> She shook her head. It should not have taken until the finger of guilt for the rumours about Mylène having an affair with sweet, non-binary and definitely only into boys Marc to point back to Lila for Alya to have started to suspect that there was more than a 'lying disease' at work here. There was too much calculated self-interest and malice in too many of Lila's stunts for it to be spontaneous and a symptom of some kind of mental affliction.</p><p>Who would have thought that Mylène would have been the hero? Who knows how much money Lila would have embezzled (or, rather, got Rose, Juleka, Mylène and Ivan to embezzle for her) through that charity if Mylène hadn't been the sweet and cautious girl she was and insist on seeing the paperwork for Lila's 'charity' and Prince Ali's approval of it before she collected so much as a centime? Fred Harperle had taught his little girl to be careful about into what she let her generous nature get her involved, it seems. Lila had promised to get the paperwork for Mylène and the 'charity' had sort of just never been referred to again. Then the slanderous rumours about Mylène started and were so laughable that Alya would have treated it as a bad joke if it hadn't hurt the principals and their significant others so badly. Lila hadn't been careful enough and she'd outed herself pretty quickly as the source simply by not having anyone else who <em>could</em> be the source. Alya never entirely trusted her after that; only Rose (who thought the best of everyone, even Chloe) was still fully accepting of the Italian girl's stories after that. </p><p>After that? Well, as soon as Lila's stories were treated with scepticism, they fell apart so easily and Alya had realised that Marinette was right all along. Lila was a fake; worse, she was a fake with a heart of pure evil and was motivated by pure selfish desire for power, wealth and control.</p><p>Ah, but there was the Hawkmoth issue. Lila wasn't just a bad girl, she was an embryonic <em>supervillain</em> and there was no easy way to predict what she might want to do and what her sponsor might <em>empower</em> her to do...</p><p>
  <em>What was that noise?</em>
</p><p>There had been a loud 'thump' from the balcony. She was about call on her transformation when she noticed that Trixx, perched on her monitor, looked relaxed, pleased and... <em>smug</em>? Still cautious but more relaxed, Alya opened the door from her bedroom onto the balcony (little more than a fenced semi-circular concrete platform where most people would probably keep flower displays) to find a very welcome face.</p><p>Alya practically threw herself into the surprised Multimouse's arms. </p><p>~~~~~</p><p>Damn, this is frustrating. Alya had read Ladybug's explanation of how a Miraculous hero's disguise magic works but it was nothing like experiencing it in action. She knew <em>who Multimouse really was</em>. She'd <em>always</em> known. Yet her brain skittered away from the information like a frightened animal from a strange sight or smell. </p><p>It didn't help that Multimouse was stretched out on the small divan in Alya's room in a way that was intimately familiar to Alya but the association of she literally couldn't resolve in her head. She grabbed her head and groaned as her brain started spiralling out to random associations about how Nino somehow wasn't Carapace in her head until the first time she saw him transform, even though her lovable boyfriend literally couldn't be anyone but himself <em>in or out of costume</em>.</p><p>Multimouse blushed prettily and cleared her throat. "Okay, so I talked to Ladybug before going out; that's why I'm a bit late. She..." The grey-suited Mouse hero frowned for a moment before continuing. "Look, Alya, everyone knows that you're a reporter. People either don't say things around you or lie around you so that only what they want to be heard is heard. No-one really trusts Chloe anyway, which is weird because she's changed a lot recently because of being Queen Bee..." The heroine drew in a deep breath and shook her head. "There is a reason why Ladybug took the risk on me even though Chat knows my identity; she wants someone in that class to act as her eyes who everyone would feel free to trust; someone who can figure out why Hawkmoth keeps targeting that class above all others!"</p><p>
  <em>Wait! Multimouse is one of my classmates?!?</em>
</p><p>"Ladybug thinks it's important, especially now, for you to know that you have someone right by you to help you and fight alongside you if things with Lila really go bad. Mullo... let's get quiet."</p><p>The silver-pink flash of light was blinding and Alya was frozen for a long moment as she drank in the sight of her pyjama-clad best friend in the world, the girl whom she'd treated so shabbily in exchange for a monster's offer of fool's gold and was still her friend and was even willing to <em>fight for her</em>. Marinette managed a shy wave and her silly, nervous grin just before Alya threw herself into her arms again. "It's you! Oh god, of course it was you! Who else would Ladybug have gone to but our class's Everyday Ladybug? Oh girl, I love you! Thank you for trusting me! I've got your secret and your back until the grave, girl, you get that? It's you and me and nothing will change that!" Marinette returned the tight hug and her laughter filled the room, doing its part to help drive the shadows of fear and uncertainty from Alya's heart.</p><p><em>I am so asking Ladybug to change the patrol schedules! She may not know I'm Rena Rouge, but there's no way I'm letting Mari run the roofs without me!</em> As it turns out... she was a bit too late. Chat Noir was already making the request in his room not that far away. But that was another story.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Care and Treatment of Akuma Victims</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Adrien knew his father was emotionally distant and didn't think like his friends' parents. He never knew that the man was so utterly divorced from most people's ideas of ethics and could be so passionlessly cruel even to his own blood.</p><p>A new phase has begun in his story and it will change the world of the Heroes of Paris and nothing will ever be entirely the same again.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Through the night of Paris, an unearthly black butterfly flew unerringly towards its target: A flare of pain and anger. A sense of betrayal and loss so intense that it shone to the malign power behind this creature more brightly than anything else he had recently seen... other than his soon-to-be victim's regrettable twin that is.</p><p>The akuma flew closer and closer to its goal when, suddenly, a voice cried out. "No more evil-doing for you, little akuma! <em>I cleanse you of evil!</em>" There was a flash of white light as a strange snap-trap built into a yo-yo snatched the creature from the air. </p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
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  <strong>User: carapace_verified@ladyblog.fr (@NotARenaissanceArtist)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> And that was akuma #4 outside Agreste Mansion tonight. </p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'm getting good but I'm also getting exhausted.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I think that he's taken Adrien's 'phone away. I try to contact him by voice or text but I get a 'do-not-disturb' message!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> This is sick</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> I always knew Adrien's old man was sick in the head but I never realised that he's so...</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Evil?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> You can say it, Cap. He might be 'Uncle Gabriel' but, right now, I'm at the lead of the virtual lynch mob.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I've got an idea brb</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss LOGGED OUT of CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> How is Ms Allegra?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> If that is still how she wishes to be addressed?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Oh, I can't see #BlackSheep adopting the name 'Agreste' right now. </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> she's kind of likely to consider that a curse</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> or an insult</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> You read of such behaviour in myth and folk tales of bygone times, not the modern age</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> but it's in character, yno?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Poor dude has been nothing but his old man's prize model for years; </p><p><strong>@NotARenassanceArtist:</strong> Why shouldn't he treat is own DAUGHTER like an inconvenience to throw away asap?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I suppose we should be pleased that agreste-baka did not follow the old ways and simply have Melodié put to death whilst still a newborn</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Not sure how much of that was him and how much of it was his p.a... Sancour? talking him down</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Having her adopted at birth and spirited across the country and Auntie Emilie being told she'd been stillborn? sancour is the one with the brains to do that, not him</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> not to sound evil but i'm kinda glad that Mme Agreste is gone</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> it would kill me, learning that my husband had done something like that to my baby</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i think that the thing that blows my mind is that sancour just looked adrikins in the eyes and TOLD HIM without an eyeblink</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> as if it was just another day on the job and she was proud to have done it well!</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss has joined the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> As i'm a hero</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i bought a burner 'phone and passed it to him through his window; basic messaging and voice ony but it's better than nothing</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> use it sparingly but pass it around his friends</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> he will need it</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss has POSTED a_agreste_burner.txt</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtst:</strong> you're a lifesaver boss-dudette!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Has Chat been on since the battle?</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> he was pretty shaken up after the battle, lb</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> i know his own family life isn't exactly stellar; maybe this hit home somehow?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> dammit. i've pinged him enough times. please ping me if he logs on and i'm not here</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> why didn't you get him out of there, ladybug?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> imagine the headlines, queenie: "Heroes of Paris kidnap heir of House of Gabriel"</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> if i thought he was in immediate danger from his father other than him being on lockdown i wouldn't have hesitated</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> there are more kinds of injury than the physical, Ladybug</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> he needs his friends and REAL family, not being locked up by that misogynistic...</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> i agree with Queen Bee</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> surely agreste-baka's crimes go to the point where we should take action?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i have to admit that i really wanted to kick down that ass's door and just...</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> merde</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i've never wanted to kill a man before</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> it is called acting to uphold honour, ladybug-sama. where should we meet with you?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i'm game; we'll tell daddy that he was threatening adrikins and we had to protect him! he started shouting, pulled out a gun and... hmmm</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i mean, as soon as melodie's story goes nationwide tomorrow, the world and their pets will know he's totally crazy</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> evil to boot</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> they'd call it a public service!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> whoa, whoa TIME OUT!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> you three are not serious</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> hurting that creep is not going to help adrien in any way!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> do you think that he'd want you all made outlaws because of him?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> do you think that hurting agreste or even KILLING him would make things better for adrien?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> do you think that he'd want it to end like this?</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> you need to draw a breath and chill</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> think of a way you can REALLY help</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p>
  <strong>@Snekcharmer joined the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> you set a record for consecutive fast posts w/o typos, lover</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> &lt;3</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> thx</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> looks like i arrived just in time</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Melodie is looking over my shoulder</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> she says 'not for our sakes'</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> 'don't let him drag you down to his level'</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> Melodie is with you?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> but for that white-haired excretion in agreste manor, she would have been my sister in all but blood</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> adrikins, her and me would have played together since we were toddlers</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> no way she's staying without support tonight</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> they're both right, tho</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> men like agreste have immunity thanks to their wealth</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> they have to be extra-evil before anyone demands justice from them</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> and even then they tend to find ways to sneak away through the cracks</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> unless someone has  the courage to stand up to them</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> and that is what we're doing, ladybug</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> by giving adrien that burner phone and by sheltering melodie</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> we're showing the world that he doesn't get to call the tune just because he's rich</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> okay</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> but the moment adrien hits that sos button on that phone, i'm going to tear that building apart brick-by-brick until i get to him</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss is typing a REPLY</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> lb?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> lb, you okay?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Ladybug-sama?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> that was akuma 5 but i don't think it was heading for adrien this time</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> so i've got to calm down</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> you've been on guard since 1700h</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> i'll come over and relieve you</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> i think that we all need sleep but you especially need to decompress</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> who'll stop the akumas?</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> the new guardian has taught me how to use my lyre to purify akuma</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> i can't undo damage the way that ladybug can but i can stop anything like the #stoneheart incident from happening</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> cool</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> wonder if my flute can do the same thing?</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> the guardian says you need a special talent to sense magical rhythms of the soul</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> yipes don't even know what that means so prob means 'no'</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> when did you meet the new guardian?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> classified, cap</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> the less known about the guardians' movements, the easier it is to keep them from reaching hawkmoth's attention if one of us is compromised</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> speaking as an angry hero who nearly got her butt akumatised a few minutes back</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> heading to rendezvous with <span class="u">@BugBoss</span> going silent</p><p>
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</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> so... adrien called me?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> or... rather civilian me?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> say no more, girl. remember rule 1?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> #O.O#</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> anyway, he says 'thanks' to <span class="u">@BugBoss</span> for the phone</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> actually he kissed me</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> I you he did i mean im glad please don't think i'm not happy er</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> on the cheek :-P</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> rassinfassinluckyhero</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> anyway, he said no rescues</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> he's all right and he's not in any danger</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> his dad is apparently locked up in his office not talking to anyone</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> his bodyguard has made it clear that no-one goes into his room right now</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> he's having an awkward time with Nathalie</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> oh, you guys might not know; she's his dad's secretary</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> pretty much his surrogate mother too</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> she spent about three hours begging him to 'understand'</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> anyway, she'd gone to bother her boss instead but he probably won't talk to her</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> yeah, she likes to think that she's some kind of confidante</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> me, i know a minion with an overblown sense of self-importance when i see one</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> <span class="u">@TrueQueen</span> - Let Melodié know that she's going to try to put pressure on her to keep quiet</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> for 'the good of the Brand' of course</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> yeah, Melodie says she can already see the number of zeros on the cheque stapled to the nda</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> she says she wants to tear it up in front of her face</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> smart girl </p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> yes when the lawyers i fully intend to help her retain are done, she will likely own a significant portion of agreste-baka's wealth without any irksome legal obligations</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i want daddy's lawyers to have part of that action too</p><p><strong>@JargonBot</strong> -- I'm a bot who loves to translate jargon! NDA - <span class="u">NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT</span> <span class="u">(Suggest Alternate Link)</span> -- <span class="u">(Stop this Bot monitoring this Chat)</span></p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> good bot</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> adrikins and her will **own** house of gabriel by the end of the year and that evil filth will be playinbg 'brother can you spare a dime' in a cardboard box behind a dumpster</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> <span class="u">@TrueQueen</span> playinbg</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i'd be angry but i needed that</p><p>
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</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Chat! Are you okay?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i'm okay, bugaboo</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> just had to think a bit and stop wanting to cataclysm my m agreste</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> <span class="u">@TrueQueen</span> en route eta 4 minutes i need to debrief #BlackSheep</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> 'debrief'? about what</p><p>
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</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@Snekcharmer</span> on station; rtb talk to everyone in a while may beat up some muggers first</p><p>
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</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> so do you think that m agreste will dare show his face in three weeks?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> ???</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> The Emilie Agreste Foundation for Disadvantaged Children's annual gala?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> only parisian society's biggest event?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> and it had to go a long way to beat the mayor's annual society ball</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> thank you for remembering that!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> <span class="u">@Marinettedesigns</span> has been... well, making this cute little wiggling motion when she talks to me about all the dresses she's making for her friends</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> yeah kno that move</p><p>
  <strong>@TrueQueen posted imthirsty.jpg</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> wait! i've got it!</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> ???</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> of course that filth will be there; he doesn't think he's done anything wrong</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> or even care if it was</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> he won't care that he's basically spat in his wife's face because having a daughter was 'excess to requirements'</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> but he's proud so he'll want to be there to bask in the spotlight</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> only he doesn't like being humiliated publicly </p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> so, why don't we get mel to the ball?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> let her dance a few times with sunshine boy</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> and have him acknowledge her as his sister before the entire press corps</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> hell, old man gabe'll be akuma bait for the rest of the night!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> that's a feature, not a bug</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> yes, it will give us an excuse to hit him!</p><hr/><p>"<em>The train arrived at platform 3 is the 2130h Star Train service from London St Pancras International. All passengers are reminded that, post-Brexit, they must have their passports or visas ready when passing into the European Union. Welcome to Paris.</em>"</p><p>"Name, Monsieur?"</p><p>"My name is Felix Graham de Vanily."</p><p>"What is the purpose of your visit to France, Monsieur Graham de Vanily? Business or pleasure?"</p><p>"Well, a little of both really. I have a new cousin to whom I need to introduce myself... and that might lead to some other family business... that will</p><p>also be a pleasure!"</p><p>"And I assume that these expensive-looking gifts are for your cousin, Monsieur?"</p><p>"Amongst some others, yes! You see, my dear gendarme, that decoration in particular is a most <em>Miraculous</em> gift for that sweet young lady!"</p><p>"Must be a strange girl to want an earring shaped like a scorpion!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Your In-Costume Significant Other</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Superheroine Squad carry out an intervention on their newest (and, unbeknownst to them, oldest) member. Meanwhile unguarded feelings lead to more than one revelation in the team!</p><p>Includes a little more information about the attack of Black Sheep and what caused it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ever since backing into regularly using the Mouse Miraculous, Marinette had been growing steadily more and more used to dual-wielding the Mouse and Ladybug at the same time. She'd noticed with interest that whichever Miraculous was the 'base' of her transformation altered the final appearance. Thus, she was most used to the spotted variant of the Multimouse costume that she'd come to think of as 'Multibug'. However, on occasion, it was necessary to call up the powers of the Mouse when in her guise as Ladybug. The result was basically the Ladybug costume with the black neckpiece extending down to her shoulders with a pink dividing stripe between the black and black-spotted crimson parts of the suit (and, of course, the Tail Rope). She usually only needed this when Chat sent Multimouse a message when she was patrolling as Ladybug. Still, she was getting more and more used to being 'Ladymouse' as a consequence.</p><p>Right now, though, she wasn't thinking of this or of how Master Fu was treating her ease with the supposedly-dangerous Unification with increasing thoughtful concern. No, right now, she was pacing fretfully because of the way some of her best friends in the world were teasing her via the pop-up holographic 'phone interface provided by the Tail Rope.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>User: multimouse_verified@ladyblog.fr (@NarrowSqueak)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Guys, I'm really uncomfortable where this is going. I mean, didn't Ladybug say that we're not allowed to ship each other?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Actually, girl, the rules say that we're only not allowed to ship each other *if we're not already in a relationship*</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> And, in fact, we are arguing that you and Chat Noir are just that.</p><p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl posted CHATANDMOUSE_FLIRT1.jpg</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl posted CHATANDMOUSE_FLIRT2.jpg</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl posted CHATANDMOUSE_FLIRT4.jpg</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl posted CHATANDMOUSE_FLIRT7.jpg</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Ooh! Number 4 is my favourite! Chatty looks like he's going to carry her away like his mousey bride!</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> It is Multimouse's expression that is most revealing in that picture. I believe that I now know what it looks like for a girl to be in heaven.</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Guuuyyysss! Please!</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> Nope, sorry, Hotmouse</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> This is an intervention</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> You literally are too close to things to realise the way that you two are continually FLIRTING and acting the bf and gf on patrol and in training.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Trufax</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> He's never been that focussed with anyone else; not even Ladybug!</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> As cute as it is, it is irritating to have to continually get them to break their locked gazes and get them to focus on their patrol routes.</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Look, guys</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Chat is a great guy</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> He's funny, charming, brave and he's always looking out for everyone else</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> He's a true dyed-in-the-wool hero and I know that!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> But we have a mission!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> It would be... INAPPROPRIATE for us to be...</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> Alone together even in a crowd?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Practically ravishing each other with your eyes during acrobatics practice?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> So obviously being in an exclusive relationship?</p><p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl posted MOUSEBITCHSLAP.mp4</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> XDXDXD</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Hey! That akumatised PUTAIN was harassing Chat! I wasn't going to let her think that was okay!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Because no-one gets physical with your Catboi except you, right?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> yes</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> NO</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> it isn't like that!</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> But you would like it to be, yes?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Ryuuko, when did you get the time to do all this research?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Having as busy a personal schedule as I do in my civilian life has taught me how to be an excellent multitasker</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Girl, you need to get off of the river. There is nothing wrong with falling for a co-worker!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Especially when he so obviously deeply cares for you too</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Surely he's waiting for Ladybug...</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Hotmouse, honey, that ship sank a long time ago</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> No offence to our esteemed leader but she's totally mission oriented and she's got no time for personal relationships beyond friendship</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Tact and friendship stops me from calling her 'frigid'</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Besides, you ever seen her spitting venom at Mayura?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> 'Frigid' isn't what she does</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Anyway, I think that Chatty got tired of bashing his head against that particular wall</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Let's face it, Mousey, you're determined, kind, heroic and sweet</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Most importantly, you are RESPONSIVE</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Yeah, the look on his face when you flirt right back! </p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> And the mouse puns!</p><hr/><p>Ladymouse swallowed. Suddenly all of those patrols, training sessions and team meetings when Ladybug sadly had to be elsewhere came rushing back along with the treacherous, <em>treacherous</em> feelings. It had been so <em>good</em> to be freed of the crushing burden of leadership and respond to Chat in kind. It had been so good to sit with him on the support beams of the Eiffel Tower and just hold his hand and lean into his warmth on colder nights. It had been so good to be leaping from roof-to-roof, quipping, teasing and, occasionally, catching each other with sudden and, now she thought of it, blush-makingly intimate touches...</p><p>Hugging each other so closely after they beat Mr Pigeon for the first time without having to summon Ladybug because of Chat's newfound power that left his Cataclysm in reserve to destroy the escaping akuma...</p><p>Oh <em>merde</em>.</p><p>She was falling for Chat Noir. Worse, it was obvious that he'd fallen for Marinette/Multimouse on some level as far back as Kwamibuster; maybe even as far back as <em>Glaciator</em>. Even worse yet, she was falling for him <em>so hard and fast</em> that the thought of letting him go for the good of the team and mission <em>physically hurt</em> to the point where she didn't think that she'd be able to do it.</p><p>
  <em>Merde. Adrien, I'm sorry but I'm not strong enough to do it.</em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITIATION ONLY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>User: multimouse_verified@ladyblog.fr (@NarrowSqueak)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I'm thinking Stormy is right ! she fainted!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Mousey, darling, just kiss Chatty, call him your boyfriend and get over it!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong>  jghdnolihnvslhglsvhn</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> ... chis kat... me?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> lol shes in</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> I don't know</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> what do i do?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Having identified your target, you strike</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> What our resident swordmistress means is that you need to confirm your feelings to him</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> how can I hae a relationshp in costme?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> hae relationshp costme</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> three typos in one sentence?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> lol yeah, she's pretty far gone!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Really, what choice is there until Hawkie is wearing stripes and in a cell?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> Besides, I imagine that it will be simpler to do than you imagine</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> At our ages, it isn't as if we have time aside from school, heroism and extracurriculars to easily HAVE a civilian relationship.</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> We just need to fit it in where there is time and space</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Trust a subject matter expert, girl</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> You'll probably be surprised how little difference a mask makes to someone!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Just think about it, Hotmousey</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> also remember: hesitating will give someone else the chance to strike first.</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> good day to you, my sisters</p><p>
  <strong>@DragonGrrrl left the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Catch ya later, girls!</p><p>
  <strong>@Foxybabe left the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> So...</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> How is Melodie doing?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> back with her adoptive folks; no harm done to their relationship; they weren't even told who her bio-parents were; </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> all done through lawyers</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> I was actually there when it all came out</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> After Mme Mendelev read out the results that her new portable gene-sequencer spat out during lab, Adrien looked like he'd gone bodily to heaven!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Yeah, mendelev's face was a picture when she realised two of her students were first-level relatives despite having only just met this semester!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> He started crying when he hugged Mel</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> I don't get why M Agreste was so hateful about this</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> For people like Uncle Gabe, everything is business. Adrikins is just something to craft into his "perfect heir"</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Not a person</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> he's sick</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> it's taken me being Queen Bee and learning what good really is to know that you're right</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> he must have figured that having Mel around would weaken his control or something</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> or maybe stormy is right and he just doesn't like girls very much other than as tools too</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> god knows auntie emilie carried most of the emotional weight in that marriage now I think about it</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> there must be something deeper</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i mean, all adrien asked for was an explanation</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> what he got was a lockdown and a family history lesson from mlle sancour without emotional context</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> if that humanoid pda is capable of feeling and i'm starting to doubt it</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Mel got a public dressing-down and threats by telepresence</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i mean, what kind of beast tells a 14-year-old girl that she was an "unfortunate byproduct" who "needed to be removed from the game board before she damaged my plans for the future of the Brand"?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Threatening to ruin her adoptive family if she ever spoke to Adrien again? There is a lot of hate there</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i know, girl, i know.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> she must have known she wasn't wanted but to have him take time out of a busy day to tell her in that much detail that she needed to be gone after her turning up again by chance?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> harsh and unnecessary blow</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> no wonder she was akumatised within five minutes of that</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Black Sheep was a nightmare</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> fortunately, i'm sort of used to my parents treating me like something they want out of their way asap</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> knowing it was an akuma didn't make my maman and papa's insults and rejection hurt less</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i don't want to guess how badly @Ladyblogger's kid sisters and other younger children were hurt</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> are still hurting</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> let alone how m and mme cesaire and all the other parents feel for saying those things</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> hawkmoth had better put up a fight, that's all I can say after allowing such inhuman cruelty</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i want him to only surrender after he's been beaten into the ground as hard and as slowly as possible</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> sorry, i'm still working through my own anger</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><hr/><p><br/>Ladymouse frowned. Chloe was still on-line but from the occasional 'Writing a reply' icon, seemed to be having problems formulating a reply. At that point, most unexpectedly, she got a private room request from the blonde heiress. What could that be about?</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Private Room chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat/private0001</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>USERS: @NarrowSqueak (multimouse_verified@ladyblog.fr); @TrueQueen (queenb_verified@ladlyblog.fr)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> What's up Chlo?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> er, i mean Queen Bee?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> No worries, Mousey</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> ONe of the reasons I requested a private room was because the others can't see the logs; only Hot'n'Red can</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> besides, my secret identity is anything but</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> so, you can use my given name if you like, Marinette</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> what makes you call me that?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> it's a tiny slip but, now it's happened, there's no doubt</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> you used exactly the same turn of phrase in class yesterday when you were shouting about how much you hate hawkmoth</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> that opening let me make all the other connections in my head the disguise magic was confusing</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i'm a dancer and i've learned to read people's moves</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> you and multimouse have exactly the same body language</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> besides, no-one else but you could have eyes that bluebell colour</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> your secret is safe, Mari. I'd bite off my own tongue and spit it into hawkmoth's face before i'd betray you, you know that</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> ladybug is going to toss me off the team for sure</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> why should she? she has problems enough of her own; no need to bother her about this</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> yeah, i guess</p><hr/><p>Ladymouse had the oddest thought pass through her head. Chloe must have also recognised the similarities between her body language and Ladybug's. However, because her verbal slip let Chloe realise that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was <em>Multimouse</em>, it meant that the disguise magic preventing her connecting her former classroom rival and now likely crush with <em>Ladybug</em> was reinforced and protected from breaches.</p><p>She had hoped that Multimouse would help her protect her secret identity but she hadn't expected it to work quite this way. Nor that it would mean that she'd suddenly be outed to <em>Chloe</em> of all people.</p><p>Ladymouse stared at the holographic screen at Chloe's next two messages and bit her lip nervously. Oh, <em>of course</em> that would now come up. Oddly enough, she agreed with Chloe here. Doing things by chatroom message made some things easier.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Private Room chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat/private0001</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>USERS: @NarrowSqueak (multimouse_verified@ladyblog.fr); @TrueQueen (queenb_verified@ladlyblog.fr)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> One question and it's one that i'd only ever have the guts to ask in a chat room</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> did i ever have a chance?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> honestly?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> now you, Rena and Ryuuko have me pinned on it...</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> chat has visited me at home a few times bfore and after i accidentally outed myself to him at the end of the fight with @KwamiBuster</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> he's become a dear friend; someone i feel comfortable with</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i have been wondering for a while whether it was um huh</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> too late to back out now, my pretty</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i was wondering if it was practical to try to pursue a relationship with him</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> y'know, hero and civilian?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> the animé and comics make it seem easier than it really would be</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> being reactivated as multimouse has solved a lot of problems</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> and thinking about it</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i want to try</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i need to try</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> but, chloe?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> luka is wrong for me; he's too smothering in his calm and zen; he doesn't get my energy</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> adrien is a wonderful man but there is some perfect girl out there and i'll never be her</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> if chat hadn't already been emerging for me?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i would have said yes there and then</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> becoming queen bee has changed you, chloe</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> being part of this team and this community has changed you</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> it would be very, very easy for me to fall in love with you</p><hr/><p>Ladymouse then logged off the chat. There was nothing else to say and she felt that Chloe needed a little time and privacy to process all of this. She hoped that her friend would find someone who could be with her without caveat and be the guard for her heart that she needed.</p><p>She'd also have to think harder about the risks involved with being Multimouse and maybe be a little more exaggerated in her Marinette flaws in class, just in case anyone other than Chloe and Alya started making connections with her subconscious behaviours.</p><p>She separated her combined transformation and Mullo flew up to her face to hug her. "You did what you needed to, Ladybug," the Mouse kwami whispered. "She understands and she will respect your heart just as you respect hers."</p><p>Ladybug blew out her breath. "Maybe, but I still wonder how hard juggling so many lives will be when there are so many... <em>complications</em> emerging!"</p><p>Mullo giggled musically. "It's just a matter of thought and organisation, oh wise Guardian. If there is one thing I've learned about you, it's that you're good at organising!"</p><p>Ladybug nodded distractedly as her mind focussed on Kagami's parting words: "<em>Hesitating will give someone else the chance to strike first.</em>" No; no way; not again. Not after Kagami beat her to Adrien because of her neurosis and fearful hesitation.</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>"Hello <em>Purr</em>-incess!"</p><p>Multimouse didn't jump in surprise as he snuck up behind her on the mid-height support girder of the Eiffel Tower. That, Chat Noir later decided, should have been his warning. Normally, she was the mouse in a lot of her behaviour, responding to his sudden surprise proximity and intimate words with startlement and babbling nervousness that he found endearing (as well as oh-so Marinette) and yet frustrating at the same time. However, this time, she slowly turned to face him, her eyes narrowed lazily and a warm smile of welcome crossing her face. "Hello right back, Kitty-Chat!"</p><p>Oh, a flirtation too? Chat could enjoy this if she was in one of her ultra-receptive moods tonight!</p><p>"So, what's on the agenda before we start patrol?"</p><p>Multimouse frowned slightly and bit her lip. "Chat, you know my secret." The leather-clad Black Cat Hero nodded. "We have... a friendship and a bond that goes beyond our being on this team together."</p><p>"I'm glad to hear you say that!"</p><p>Multimouse chuckled in response. "Yes, I'm glad that I can bring myself to say it!" The girl seemed to go into her head for a moment as if searching for something. "Chat, how serious is this flirtation? Do you just like teasing me or...?"</p><p>Chat was afraid of this. He had a <em>reputation</em>. He flirted with Rena, Queen Bee and Ryuuko too. Hell, he'd even flirted with the occasional female akuma when he thought it might help distract, anger or confuse them. "Little Mouse, Princess, there is that, I admit it. I just hope that you'd look beyond the flirting and teasing to see that I genuinely choose to spend time with you; interacting with you..." Chat drew in a deep breath. "Romancing you." He shook his head. "I'd never thought that I'd feel this strongly about anyone other than M'lady but... She's Ladybug. She has a role and a position and that makes her remote sometimes. You've never treated me as just the Black Cat Hero. To you, I'm your dear friend Chat and you feel able to respond in kind. I like to think that you feel the same way about me. If I've offended you, I'll back off but I hope that in all the ways I've tried to help you, in and out of costume, that you'd see that you're special to..."</p><p>Chat was cut off by the most beautiful, soft and electric contact on his lips as Multimouse kissed him. It was a kiss full of attraction, desire and <em>acceptance</em>. "Yes, Chat, I'll be your girlfriend. I'll be your girlfriend and, one day, when Hawkmoth is gone, we'll be together in and out of costume and there will be <em>no</em> more secrets between us. I <em>swear</em> it."</p><p>Chat was dumbstruck as Multimouse snuggled in against his chest and his arms wrapped around her almost without conscious intent. Finally, his brain caught up enough to trigger his voice. "It's going to be weird doing this in costume and only with codenames."</p><p>Multimouse laughed. "Good. I hate conventional things. Surely my art has taught you that?"</p><p>"Everything about you is <em>exceptional</em>, Princess." Now it was Chat's turn to blow Multimouse's mind with a kiss and he took the opportunity for all it was worth.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>A NEW SHIP LEAVES THE DOCK!</strong>
</p><p>(<span class="u">www.ladyblog.fr/news/06172018-A_New_Ship</span>)</p><p>
  <strong>By Alya Césaire (ladyblogger@staff.ladyblog.fr)</strong>
</p><p>Singletons of Paris mourn! My good friend Rena Rouge has tipped your ever-eager Ladyblogger with some breaking news from within Team Miraculous! Last night at a team meeting, the hot new Mouse of Might and everyone's favourite Rogue Black Cat announced to their team-mates that they are now officially significant others! Of course, everyone who has watched Chat Noir and Multimouse in action has known that there is something going on between those two but...</p><hr/><p><strong>From:</strong> BugBoss (<span class="u">ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr</span>)</p><p><strong>To:</strong> TEAM MAILING GROUP</p><p><strong>Re:</strong> Rule 11</p><p>Just so we have this in writing, as of now, MultiChat is no longer forbidden by Rule 3 restrictions. Do be fair to those two, guys. <em>Particularly</em> you, Queenie and Rena.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. You SHALL Go To the Ball!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Post-episode for Felix, Melodié Allegra has her big coming out and Adrien's life just gets that much more complicated. As does Marinette's although, in honesty, maybe that's a little bit her own fault!</p>
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    <p>Adrien Agreste was a man with problems.</p><p>Well, he had <em>several</em> problems, not the least of which was that he was pretty much being held prisoner by his father, who recent events had exposed as a horrible person who trampled over anyone who didn't fit in with his personal view about the way the world should be. Worse, he was enabled by his PA whom, Adrien increasingly realised, would do anything for his father for no other reason than he wanted it because she had some kind of bizarre obsession with him.</p><p>However, that wasn't his real problem right now. His problem, as startlingly normal it was for a 15-year-old boy, was <em>girls</em>. Specifically the trio of girls who were all competing for his heart. Not only did he have an official girlfriend as Adrien Agreste but he had a <em>different</em> official girlfriend in his costumed persona of Chat Noir. Worse, he was now realising that what he felt for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Multimouse, was so much deeper and more emotionally intense than he felt for Tsurugi Kagami, a girl he was fond of and was sure was fond of him in return but, regrettably, with whom he lacked any kind of <em>spark</em>. Kagami was such a good friend and Adrien was really, really averse to the thought of hurting her by ending their relationship. On the other hand, he was also averse to cheating on her in any way... or cheating on Marinette either.</p><p>That basically introduced the third girl of the mess that just made this so much more complicated. She was currently pacing thoughtfully in the middle of his bedroom and it was so, so difficult to concentrate on anything but her perfect athletic form and hypnotising body motions as she did so.</p><p>"Um... Ladybug? Is this... a new look?" Adrien was ready to kick himself for saying such a dumb thing. Thankfully, Ladybug chose not to mock him for being a slack-jawed fanboy. Instead she smiled and gave a little amateur model twirl that made Adrien's head spin a bit. The new costume was all-over black body-suit with black-polka-dotted crimson bicep-length opera gloves, black-polka-dotted crimson thigh boots (with a centimetre or two of built up heels) and a black-polka-dotted crimson strapless halter-like top; and, of course, the Ladybug Yo-yo angled rather provocatively around her hips. </p><p>"From what my kwami says, our costumes are basically formed by our subconscious ideas of what a hero should look like. When I first transformed, I had no idea what was happening to me and the outcome is what I think of as the 'Ladybug Onesie'. After all the special power-up transformations, though, I realised I wanted something better and this is the outcome." Ladybug posed, a fist on a hip angled out in a provocative way. "Like it, M. Agreste?"</p><p><em>Are you trying to <strong>make</strong> me swallow my tongue, M'Lady? Is she <strong>flirting</strong> with me?!?</em> Adrien shook his head. Focus, Agreste. Stay on the subject. "Look, I think that Rena Rouge's idea is a good one but..." Adrien gestured around himself in frustration. "Look, I'm sort of under house arrest here! How am I supposed to get out?" <em>Without transforming into Chat Noir and that would only raise questions that I don't want to answer!</em></p><p>Much to his surprise, Ladybug stepped into Adrien's personal space, making his pulse spike suddenly. "Adrien Agreste, am I or am I not one of the heroes of Paris? Do you or do you not want to make it clear to the world that you do not and never will accept your father's excuses for how he treated your mother and sister?"</p><p>Adrien somehow managed to avoid being drowned in the righteous blue fire in Ladybug's eyes or consider whether or not the zipper with the little ladybug charm at her throat actually worked. Instead he focussed on his feelings for his sister and his anger at his father's controlling nature. "Yes to both m'l... Ma'am."</p><p>Ladybug's smile was like the sun coming out on a cloudy day and she patted him affectionately on the cheek. "Good, then trust me and trust the rest of the heroes. We'll arrange everything else; you just need to be looking at your best in the clothes Mlle Dupain-Cheng is preparing for you." The crimson-and-black champion of justice stepped over to the window and then paused. "Better to lie low until then. Make your father complacent and less likely to be on his guard for any tricks or show of defiance." The heroine was halfway out of the window and cast her Yo-yo to swing away. She looked back with a friendly wink and a mischievous v-for-victory sign across her eyes. "Bug out!"</p><p>Adrien was as good as paralysed for a few seconds as his Lady swung away into the late evening twilight. Plagg lazily phased out of his hiding place and glided over to his Holder. "Plagg," Adrien gulped out. "Is it me or was Ladybug flirting with me?"</p><p>Plagg snorted. "Why? Like what's on offer?" The cat-like Kwami stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I dunno... Aren't we getting close to ladybug mating season? Maybe she's going into heat?" Adrien made a choking noise and the mischievous little goblin had the nerve to <em>laugh</em>. "Just playin' with your head, kid! Nah, if you ask me, she's just been a lot more comfortable in her skin recently! I reckon she's made a choice that she was fightin' with and now it's done, she's able to be more herself!"</p><p>Adrien frowned. "How do you mean?"</p><p>The Kwami rolled his eyes and again silently cursed the magic that stopped him from just <em>telling</em> his adorably-unobservant Holder a few surprising truths. "You know she said she fancies this mystery guy? Maybe she finally had the guts to approach him and he said yes!" Adrien frowned in annoyance and immediately felt like a heel for forgetting that he had Marinette now... and felt a heel again for stringing Kagami along, even if it was only to protect her from heartbreak and the inevitable attempt by Hawkmoth to victimise her. Even with Calameowty at his call, there was only so much he could do to protect her 24/7! </p><p>Plagg punched Adrien on the shoulder, with surprising strength from a being that was only 15 centimetres long and couldn't weigh more than two kilogrammes at most. "Hey, get out of your head, kid. You'll be late for your patrol with your Lovemouse!" The Black Cat Kwami of Destruction chuckled at the superb irony of these facts and at the way Adrien's eyes immediately misted over, forgetting his dilemma with Ladybug and Kagami in favour of imagining being in Pigtails/Spacebuns' arms again. <em>Humans are so easy to mess with at this age! I'm surprised Trixx ain't causing more havoc with his Holder!</em></p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I'm kinda shocked you didn't punch the little creep's head off when he stuck his tongue down your throat like that, Hot'n'red!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I mean... he got the goth-model, the non-powered mouse and the perky ditz akumatised all at once! He would have *deserved* it!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Oh, the temptation was there, Queenie</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> But the Graham de Vanily family are powerful</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'm sure that there would have been repercussions if I'd just turned his head into a high-velocity yellow spray</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Even if I would have enjoyed it for him slandering Adrien like that!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I... *may* have used Mirage on him and made him believe that every akuma from the first few months of Hawkmoth's rampage were waiting for him in his hotel room</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Maybe a misuse of powers but maybe he'll learn from being so scared that he soiled his pants like that</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I nominate the hot fox for this week's 'best use of superpower' award!</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Seconded</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> <span class="u">#Reflekta</span>, <span class="u">#Horrificator</span> and <span class="u">#PrincessFragrance</span> are still crying in each other's arms and I'm getting tired of catching the akumas swarming the houseboat</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> I can't swear for what I might do to that bit of filth if I ever meet him, in or out of costume</p><p>
  <strong>@NarrowSqueak JOINED the CHAT</strong>
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  <strong>@Cool4Catz JOINED the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Greetings and fur-licitations, team!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Skitter-ally nothing happening at our end</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> oh god, he's got her doing it now</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> So, I'm just snuggled up atop Tour Montparnasse, safe and warm in the arms of my Kitty-Knight in Shining Leather</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Hey, just because you two have someone to snuggle with on patrol, no fair rubbing it in the faces of those of us who don't!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Jealousy isn't attractive, Ladybug</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Er and no offence intended?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Now THAT'S the Multimouse I know!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Also, in LITERALLY hot news, the matre'd in the terrace cafe says if anyone is thirsty during opening hours, coffees, teas, sodas and shakes are on the house to Team Miraculous!</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Wow! That's potentially a lot of free drinks</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Also a lot of free publicity. A couple of photos and 'The favourite cafe of #TeamMiraculous' on the website could *treble* sales</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> And where is my cut? </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> *OUR cut?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Got to remember to talk to daddy's lawyers about licensing deals like this for the team!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> So, good news</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> <span class="u">@Marinettedesigns</span> told me today that they're all finished!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> ???</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> The gala dresses</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> And the custom tux for <span class="u">@TheAdrienAgresteBrand</span></p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> A certain mouse was and is making the wriggling motion every time she talks about them</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> CHAAAT! You promised</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Nothing to be ashamed of!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> #O.O# </p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> So, what's the plan for sneaking in our two principals?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I've already got Adrien's jailbreak and triumphant entrance planned</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I've spent the last few days checking the camera locations and fields of view</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> They'd be perfect if it wasn't for the fact that I can fly.</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Does HE know that?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Adrien is adaptable; he'll manage</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> As for Melodié</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Why do we need to sneak her in?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> She's got a ticket after all!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I can't see ol' Gabe letting anyone sell her a ticket</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> He didn't have to</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> She's going as my +1!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> What? Silence? No-one impressed with my brilliance?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Queenie, baby, we love you but isn't that gonna be difficult?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Yeah, I mean, doesn't your dad usually want to pair you with the son of his latest political ally or contributor at public events like this?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Or whoever he's decided is the 'perfect' bf for your future career in politics?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> yeah, screw that</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Melodie is my friend and she needs my help</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Why can't I invite someone I actually *like* to be my partner for the night?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> The press will speculate about you two!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Let them; I'm a lesbian and I'm not ashamed of that</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> If daddy has to tell some of his reactionary sponsors to get lost, then that's a good thing!</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> Wow! You go girl but this will be a tough one</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> However that works out, we're there for you, QB</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Thanks, girls.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It isn't anything like me and Mel are or might be a thing but daddy is going to have to get used to me being with girls as a thing from now on! </p><hr/><p>Chloe drew in a deep breath and tried to focus on the moves of the elegant waltz, attempting to adapt to being in the lead with Melodié rather than following as she usually had to do. <em>I don't have a thing for Mel</em>, she reminded herself. For all she was practically a feminised clone of Adrien and ticked almost all of Chloe's 'yes, please' boxes, Melodié deserved better at a time when she was very emotionally vulnerable than being swept off of her feet by her new friend as a rebound for the non-starter with Marinette. </p><p>"Feet starting to hurt?" the taller blonde asked, her green eyes narrowed with concern. </p><p>Chloe screwed a superior smirk on her face. "<em>I'm</em> fine. The Hermit of Agreste Manor, on the other hand, keeps on throwing daggers at us!"</p><p>Melodié looked over her shoulder at her bio-dad and an ugly grin split her perfect features. "Good; I hope he gets an ulcer from the view!" Gabriel Agreste did, indeed, seem to be having some issues with his estranged prodigal daughter being at the gala. The man was nowhere near as good at keeping his countenance as he obviously thought and Chloe was good enough at reading other people to see the way the man's fists kept clenching on the pleats of his red trousers as a worried-looking Nathalie tried without success to engage him in some (doubtless business-related) distraction.</p><p>Just as Rena had predicted, Gabriel had not been able to resist making a personal appearance at the gala to soak up praise for the orphanages, free clinics and scholarships operated by the charity that Emilie Agreste had founded. He had even had the unmitigated gall to deliver an opening speech full of praise for the generous spirt and kind heart of the woman whom he had robbed of her daughter because he felt that a son was all the family needed. Then Chloe had shifted her 'date' forwards from where she was hidden behind the picture-perfect but bored and disinterested Audrey Bourgeois into his line of sight and he'd <em>actually stopped speaking</em> for a moment. He could only continue with a strained tone and occasional stutter, a vein on his temple visibly throbbing with stress and anger. </p><p>"Chlo?"</p><p>"Yes, Mel?"</p><p>The taller blonde shifted a little closer into the waltz posture and smiled. "All else to one side, thank you for bringing me tonight and letting me be the girl who got to go to the ball because of magic. Does that make you my fairy godmother?"</p><p>Chloe couldn't stop what came out of her mouth next. "Maybe I'm the Handsome Prince? Gender-bent, of course!"</p><p>Mel laughed. "Yeah, that's right. Anyway, I'm glad you talked me into this. I'm having fun tonight with all the glitz, glamour and beauty!" That made Chloe very, very glad. She'd made enough lives bad in her time; helping just one person that happy was a big step for her. "So, when does the big surprise you kept talking about happen?"</p><p>Chloe was wondering that herself. Did Ladybug run into trouble at the manor?</p><p>At that point the music was drowned out by the voice of the herald at the upstairs entrance to the Grand Hotel's grand ballroom. "Ladies and gentlemen! M Adrien Agreste and... er... <em>Mlle Ladybug</em>!"</p><p>At that point, every eye was on the staircase as Adrien, impeccably dressed in the dark tux with hints of blue and silver, descended the stairs. On his arm was... <em>Oh my god, she's beautiful!</em> Chloe managed to swallow her shout and not black out from sheer shock. Ladybug was actually wearing a ball gown that every instinct told Chloe was actually her modified costume. The inner layer was a single-piece and armless jet black bodice running from a high neck to (presumably) groin. Over that was a sharply V-cut crimson with black polka-dots over-dress, clenched at the abdomen and flaring out into a straight-cut skirt to ankle-height with a deep slash up the left side of the skirt revealing the black high-heeled thigh boots with a ladybug-themed thigh garter carrying the Ladybug Yo-Yo. She was also wearing shoulder-length black opera gloves and, to round things off, her hair was up in a bun with a pair of chopsticks with little Ladybug charms dangling from the ends keeping the bun in place. She was in every way the Champion of Paris, for the very first time doing what Chloe felt she should have done from the start by stamping her dominance on Paris's high society. </p><p>Without any visible hesitation, a starstruck-looking Adrien swept Ladybug onto the dance floor and the two shifted seamlessly into the waltz. Oh, and Chloe could not have paid for a better decision! Some bright spark on the upper level thought to trigger a spotlight and focus it on the Sunshine Prince of Paris and his superheroine date as they swept around the dance floor in each other's arms. </p><p>Somehow Chloe managed to dance to the end of the piece without crushing Melodie's feet with her suddenly distracted and stumbling steps. </p><p>The band fell silent and, contrary to usual protocol, did not start a new piece as Adrien and Ladybug walked over Chloe and Melodié. "Queen Bee," Ladybug said in a strangely rich and measured tone of voice. "You look radiant tonight. Thank you for your generosity and thoughtful gesture with Mlle Allegra." Chloe bobbed her head and hoped her babbled reply was coherent and somewhat non-humiliating.</p><p>Adrien released his subtle death-grip on Ladybug's arm and stepped forward to Melodié. He took her hand and bent over it, pressing a formal kiss to the back of her hand. "<em>Bonjour ma sœur.</em>" He straightened up and shot Melodie that award-winning smile that had sold so much for his father's company. "My sister, you are the true light of this ball! Mother would have been so proud!"</p><p>Melodié was shocked into silence for a moment before, with a hint of tears in her eyes, she curtsied in return and uttered the words she'd been relentlessly rehearsing. "<em>Bonjour mon frère.</em> Thank you! Thank you so much for welcoming me home!" The room practically <em>exploded</em> with camera flashes as Adrien guided Melodié onto the dance floor as the band struck up a celebratory-feeling foxtrot.</p><p>Chloe looked over her shoulder and wondered idly if Gabriel was about to die of a stress-induced stroke, based on the way he had gone plum purple and was sliding off of his seat at the head table. For some reason, he was clutching at the knot of his cravat whilst Nathalie was visibly restraining him. <em>Sucks to be you, huh?</em></p><p>"Queen Bee?" Chloe looked over at Ladybug's right fist extended towards her. "Pound it," she said with that fey, mischievous grin that Chloe had fallen in love with at first sight. </p><p>The blonde extended her own fist and responded to the gesture. "Pound it!" Yeah, mission accomplished for today.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In case anyone is wondering, Marinette has a dual login on her Miraculous tools for which she can select whether she wants to post as Multimouse or as Ladybug. Chat was too wrapped up having his Princess in his arms to notice that she was posting as Ladybug!</p><p>Ladybug's new costume: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/628955904209505578/ </p><p>Where were Kagami and Nino in all of this? They were on patrol at the other side of Paris and it wasn't that I just couldn't think up any parts for them at all!</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Realities and Appearances</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Marinette learns that there are consequences to every choice and that 'happily ever after' rarely happens without others having an UNHAPPILY ever after.</p><p>Also, Chloe makes a marketing suggestion for Team Miraculous that makes everyone feel more than a little uncomfortable</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a trigger warning: Some might find some of the the suggestions attributed to Chloe in this chapter a bit offensive or triggering. I like to think that I've got her mindset generally in character. However, I am just one man and if anyone thinks I've got her wrong and/or is offended by the idea that I mention here, that is your right and privilege, which I respect without qualification.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette drew in a deep breath, put the calming chamomile tea down in front of her friend and then sat next to her on her chaise. After a moment of hesitation, she put her arm across Kagami's shoulder and drew her into a gentle hug. Kagami went stiff but, after a moment, relaxed into the contact. </p><p>Marinette just wished that she didn't feel an utter and shameless hypocrite at this moment. She'd <em>enjoyed</em> last night. Being able to interact with Adrien as Ladybug (and thus somewhat free of the fears that had always held her back in her civilian form) had been one of the great experiences of her life to date. A lot of the fantasies of her first few weeks of knowing him had come rushing back to the surface and she hadn't kept it <em>professional</em>, much to her shame.</p><p>What was the result of letting her fantasies take hold? She was afraid that she'd only confused herself and hurt people. She had a <em>boyfriend</em>, dammit! A good, kind, heroic soul to whom she'd promised her heart and with whom she was <em>happy</em>! She'd betrayed Chat's trust by letting silly crushing Mari out for a fantasy night with Adrien Agreste. Worse, she'd not only hurt her relationship with Chat; she'd hurt one of her best friends with a blow straight to the heart.</p><p>"Kagami, I'm sure that there was nothing in it other than Ladybug wanting to get Adrien out of that house and then make it clear she approved of his choices!"</p><p>Kagami sighed deeply. "You are kind Marinette but... I wonder if it will be easier if Ladybug were to claim Adrien and take him away from me? I have long realised that Adrien could not bring to our relationship what I wanted and it was increasingly obvious that it was little more than a play-act for both of us. It would save me the problem of having to tell him it is over." Kagami's eyes lost focus as she thought again of the picture that graced the society pages of every paper in Paris this morning, specifically the look of rapture on Adrien's face as he danced in Ladybug's arms. "He was where his heart wanted to be last night, Mari. I know Adrien well enough to see that. Perhaps it is fitting that a man as wonderful as he should only settle for Paris's greatest warrior. Compared to her, what is a mere learner in the arts of the blade like me have to offer?"</p><p>"Don't believe that, Kagami! You're a <em>great</em> person! Strong, brave, kind! I don't know if you and Adrien are meant to be but you, as a person, <em>deserve</em> happiness!" Marinette realised that she was actually <em>crying</em> onto Kagami's hair as the other girl buried herself into her embrace and muffled her own sobs into the side of her neck. Whether Marinette's own tears were empathy for her friend's sadness or shame at her own lack of control, she didn't know. </p><p>She mentally cursed Chloe's acidic reflex response to that reporter at the gala: "<em>Well, duh! He's Adrien Agreste, you simpleton! He could have any man or woman he wanted but why should he settle for anyone but the most exceptional woman in Paris?</em>" As always, Chloe had found the words that would hurt people the most, even without realising it!</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I'm just saying that I feel a bit slighted, that's all.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I couldn't peel Adrikins away from Hot'n'Red all night!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> What, you wanted to dance with him too?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> No, mousie! i wanted to dance with ladybug!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Okay, she gave me the one twirl whilst he was dancing with Mel but that wasn't enough!</p><hr/><p>Marinette felt the blush spreading across her face and neck. She was honest enough to say that she'd sensed Chloe's enjoyment of that dance and felt it herself but to hear that she'd maybe inadvertently dragged a fourth person into the multiple car-crash that was suddenly her romantic life was the last thing that she wanted! </p><p>
  <em>Damn secrecy and damn my lack of self-control! I wish that I could just find a simple way to fix all of this!</em>
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  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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</p><p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> So, did <span class="u">@Marinettedesigns</span> help her design that dress, Mousie?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Yeah, I wanna know that secret too! All the fashion bloggers are going wild about that look!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'll field that one, Multimouse</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> The original design came from Mlle Dupain-Cheng but the real secret is the magic that creates our costumes.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> according to my kwami, our costumes aren't random or something intrinsic to the transformation</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> They actually come from our subconscious - What we think we ought to look like as a hero themed on that animal</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> What, you mean your idea of a ladybug hero was a polka-dotted crimson onesie?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> rofl</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Chat!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> actually, kitty, the first time i transformed, I had no idea what was going on. I'm guessing that my mind went blank and Tikki had to just give me a 'default' costume</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> But i had a conversation with her based on the changes to my transformation when I use power-ups and she explained the process to me</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> based on that, I asked <span class="u">@Marinettedesigns</span> to help me visualise my preferred costume design and WILLED it the next time i transformed</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Hey, I thought that those new threads were something to do with that new power of yours!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> It appeared for the first time after we fought <span class="u">#StreetDemon</span></p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Loved the BugBike and the ladybug-themed biker jacket, btw</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Nah, it's just coincidence</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Ladyupgrade lets me transform a mundane item into a multi-use magical tool or weapon suited to a specific akuma or sentimonster</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> what's more, i can dispel it and use it again after waiting out a one minute cooldown, so its more flexible than my Lucky Charm</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Wow! Boss likes her new toy!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> *is jealous that she only has the one power*</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> that I do, mousie</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> but it has nothing to do with the costume.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> So, if I want it, I can have a different costume?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You need to be able to visualise it clearly enough during transformation but, essentially, yes</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Well, I love my fox-tail so i'll pass</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Hey, mousie, can you set me up with <span class="u">@Marinettedesigns</span>?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I've got a few ideas but i'll need her help to flesh them out</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> I'll dm you when she's available</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Princess, can I have a private chat please?</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Private Room chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat/private0002</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>USERS: @NarrowSqueak (multimouse_verified@ladyblog.fr); @Cool4Catz (chatnoir_verified@ladlyblog.fr)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> What's up mon amour?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Look... Do you know how to get hold of Tsurugi Kagami? I understand from a friend that she's a friend of yours in civilian life</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> what? why?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> right</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> so, you know that i know adrien agreste, right?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> you must have seen those blasted photographs in the papers</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> him with Ladybug? I didn't know whether to congratulate her or be jealous!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> same for me with him ;-)</p><p><strong>@Cool4Cats:</strong> anyway, he really feels awkward</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> about what? did ladybug... I dunno... pressure him to be her date last night or something?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Look, Mari the fact is that adrien</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> he's crushed on Ladybug for the very longest time</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> last night... it was like his biggest fantasy come true!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> oh </p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> uh</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i get why he feels kinda awkward then</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> he's scared that he let that impact on his behaviour</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i'll be passing his apologies to m'lady next but the thing is...</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> he's got a girlfriend and he's increasingly happy with her</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> he doesn't want to give ladybug the wrong idea</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> but the damn press are making up their own conclusions</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> AND Kagami has been publicly linked with him too</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> they've even had a few formal and informal dates</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> what is she supposed to think?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> wow so he needs to apologise to Kagami, huh?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> yeah... i mean, he was struggling to find a way to let her know that he's found someone else and the last thing he wants is for her to think that 'someone else' is ladybug!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> hey, princess, you still there?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> freaking me out a little!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> wut</p><hr/><p>Marinette had never thought she'd be grateful to Mullo for biting her but if it were not for the Mouse Kwami's intervention, she had no idea how long she would have sat there with her mouth hanging open.</p><p><em>Adrien had been cheating on Kagami even before last night?</em> The girl clamped down on a nasty, vile impulse to feel satisfaction and a perverse form of vindication. She was hardly the pure and innocent one to be making moral judgements on just how messed up her classmate's romantic life was!</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Private Room chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat/private0002</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>USERS: @NarrowSqueak (multimouse_verified@ladyblog.fr); @Cool4Catz (chatnoir_verified@ladlyblog.fr)</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> adrien says that this new girl is perfect</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> She's in his class and she's got a lot in common with him</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> She's also beautiful, talented, kind-hearted and brave</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> I guess...</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> well, he shouldn't have waited but he was scared that Kagami would get akumatised if he told her</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> It's happened a couple of times before.</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [reply deleted]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Minnou, please tell me that Adrien isn't secretly dating Lila Rossi.</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> faoieahgpiie o8</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> sorry, dropped my staff-phone</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i'm pretty sure that the only date adrien wants to give that leech is a court date for a harassment lawsuit</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> tell the truth, Chat, I don't think that Kagami WANTS to talk to adrien right now</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> if he didn't want her akumatised, he went the wrong way about it</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> ouchies XO</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i'll ask her to unblock him the next time we talk</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> most i can ask</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> him too, of course</p><p>
  <strong>@TrueQueen has PINGED @NarrowSqueak to join the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i wonder what she wants</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i've got to dot a few i's and cross a few t's on some homework, so we'll talk later?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> later, my knight xxx</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Finally, all the girls and none of the guys</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> look at this</p><p>
  <strong>@TrueQueen posted FIERELLECALENDAR2018.zip </strong>
</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> #O.O#</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> what am i looking at here?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> possibly one of the most popular illustrated calendars in the world</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> it's also soft-core porn!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> which is why it sells, Rena! </p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> did you know that there is a significant art community that produces... er... 'glamour' pictures based on us?</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> yeah, and <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> has her mods working 24/7 to keep that filth scrubbed off of her site. Why?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It proves that there is a MARKET, foxy! A market that we are in a unique and unparalleled position to exploit for our own PROFIT!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> After all, those creeps can only produce look-alikes!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> We're the REAL THING and, if, as our beloved leader has proven, we can remodel our transformations into ball gowns, why not lingerie or swimsuits?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> hold on, queenie, what are you proposing here?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> 'cause it sounds like you want us to produce our own in-house porn!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> god, no</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> the peons can't pay enough in their worthless lifetimes to afford that from US!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> but...</p><p>
  <strong>@TrueQueen posted SI-SWIMSUITEDITION2020.zip</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> as you see, there are more mainstream alternatives</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> Where do you get this stuff, Chlo?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> officially, my lips are sealed; unofficially, daddy really needs to learn to change his password on his laptop once a millennium or so; maybe try to be creative too</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i figure that, if Clara Nightingale could do a 'charity calendar' of glamour shots where she gives, say, 33% of the profit to various social charities, why not us?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> no filth</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> unless you're comfortable with racy poses</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> even then, we're all underage, of course, which limits what's legal to publish</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i'm proposing tasteful shots of each of us in a swimsuit or lingerie modification of our transformations; me, hot'n'red, foxy, mousie and stormy to make a page-a-month product</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> we'll need a sixth model to give even distribution</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> what? are you actually CONSIDERING this, girl?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> so long as it's for a good cause and queenie keeps her promise that it's tasteful...?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i dunno... it's hard to say 'no' outright</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> even if we keep the photos unpublished, i'd love to see the boys' reactions!</p><p>
  <strong>@WascallyWabbit JOINED the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Bunnyx? Why are you here? Is there a danger to the timeline?</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> There WAS but that's handled. I just wanted to see what you kids are up to</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> imagine my shock that i log into the pitch meeting for the first ever Team Miraculous Charity Swimsuit Calendar!</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> or, as it's better known to its many fans: "The Hot Babes of Parisian Superheroism"</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Wait, this becomes a thing?</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Maybe</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> Or maybe I'm just enjoying playing with your cute little mid-teen heads!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> ugh</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> maybe you can be persuaded, foxkit?</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> maybe arrange more 'racy' poses for Teenage DJ Hero Turtle's eyes only?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> a;maiaumruuhar;kv</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> jokes aside, you do realise that the #1 demographic for charity products is women?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> what, so you think that we should include Chat too?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> wow! that would make his head explode!</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> i'm suggesting that you include all the boys, assuming that they don't die of shock when you suggest it</p><p><strong>@WascallyWabbit:</strong> a certain little lapin tells me that the snake axeman is quite cute in trunks!</p><p>
  <strong>@WascallyWabbit LOGGED OFF the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'm so going to talk to her about this... one day</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss LOCKED Chat Logs for 07-03-2018 09:18 TO 09:31</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> that was so unfair!</p><p>
  <strong>@Cool4Catz JOINED the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> Princess; all the other hot ladies of parisian heroism too! how are you all doing? </p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> YOU!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> did you give that time-jumping tease the idea for that title?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> wut? </p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> what are you yelling about, Rena?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Cats:</strong> also, why are the logs for the last quarter of an hour locked?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> don't ask, chaton</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> girls? not a word</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>See what I've been doing? In the Chat, 'Multimouse' is the authentic voice of Marinette in a lot of ways. She's occasionally nervous and hesitant, occasionally a bit salty and she's always excitable, generous and mischievous. 'Ladybug' is more formal, the slightly-detached rules-bound leader. She's occasionally sarcastic or teasing but she never goes behind that formal line.</p><p>That's really why Mari is still doing this: In some ways, she as much needs an escape from the 'Ladybug' persona as Adrien needs to be away from the public 'Adrien Agreste'.</p><p>Yeah and maybe Bunnyx sometimes forgets that she's a woman, wife and mother in her fourth decade and the others aren't even half way to that point yet!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. NO SHIPPING!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ladrien is still happening and it is causing only trouble for the three kids involved. The  time has come for firm measures.</p><p>Meanwhile, Hawkmoth is enacting a final stratagem of his own.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat<br/>
</strong> <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY<br/>
</strong> <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong></p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> You cant see me but im head-desking right now</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Aw, hot'n'red</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It's adorable!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> if it makes you feel better, dudette, that's the happiest smile Adrien has given fo ra long time!</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> fo ra u owe me a soda or a kiss</p><p><strong>@NotARennaissanceArtist:</strong> never before has a punishment been such a reward</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> queenie has a point tho</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> only u could put a hoodie and sweatpants over her costume as a makeshift disguise and *still* make it look stylish :D</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> France Soir's society page calls it 'The Second Ladrien Date'! they're actually speculating if you're going to make a formal announcement!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> so, what's next? a restraunt date? a movie? badger adrikins into getting you a ring?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Hey! i suddenly realised that they used <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span>'s name for the ship! Can she sue?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> The point is that i've been trying to debunk 'ladrien', not encourage it!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> <span class="u">@studentoftheblade</span> is a good friend and the papers are making out that I'm stealing her boyfriend!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> To be honest, Ladybug, the smile you're wearing in that picture and that little flirtatious hand-touch across the cafe table makes it hard to believe that you're trying to 'debunk' anything</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Thank you, Queen Bee, for making me feel even more of a shit of a friend and a failure of a hero than I did anyway</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i just wanted to get Adrien out of that prison his father has made of his home for a while!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>I just wanted to help him be *happy* for a few minutes! Is that a crime?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> intervention time here, hot'n'red; you're gonna have to hand off Adrien care and keeping to someone else</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>An unclear disclaimer is no-one's friend - your crush on him is showing</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> god-damn it! i have a BOYFRIEND! i should be SO over this mad little obsession i had with Adrien way back when!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> yo, kitty? you're unusually quiet here!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> yeah, i guess I'm with M'lady.</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> the press are blowing this way out of all proportion and are hurting Adrien, Mlle Tsurugi and Ladybug just for clicks nad cheap headlines!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i mean, its obvious ushe's just being a very good friend for Adrien!</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> ushe? That's a weird one!</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> game face on, Cap; not the time</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Chaton, i'm desperate here, what do you think i should do?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> normally i advocate taking the high road and letting time make fools out of people like this but it's hurting Kagami and badly</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I don't think the usual "Team Miraculous does not comment on heroes' personal lives and relationships" non-answer press release will get them off the scent this time either</p>
<hr/><p>Lying in his bunk on the houseboat <em>Liberty</em> on the banks of the Seine, Luka was doing what he did best: Lurking on Chat. He wasn't a mad extrovert like Ayla and Chloe, nor did he have the obligations of a leader like Marinette so he didn't engage casually so much as the others. That didn't mean that he didn't empathise. He'd made a mistake and acted with his heart without thinking it through. Things were in the process of turning out better despite it but that didn't mean that he hadn't gone through a few bad days.</p><p>Luka looked down at the sporty, loyal and wilful pinkette tucked in against his side, sleeping off an unseasonably warm weekend day. On an impulse, he pressed a little kiss against Alix's temple and admitted to himself that maybe that 'mistake' was actually turning out to be a blessing in disguise. The girl shifted slightly and peeked out at her boyfriend through barely-cracked-open eyelids. "Lu...?"</p><p>"Just remembering how lucky I am to have met you, Symphony."</p><p>Alix smiled sleepily and closed her eyes again. "Sap." she murmured. "Like that about you..."</p><p>Recalling that... <em>bad incident</em> did make him think about the current situation though. Maybe the advice that he wrongly applied to the team then might have some value now?</p>
<hr/><p> <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat<br/>
</strong> <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY<br/>
</strong> <strong>User: vipereon_verified@ladyblog.fr (@Snekcharmer)</strong></p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> Maybe there is something to be said for clarity and openness?</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> It seems to me that the press is making stuff up in a vacuum because there is no official word as to what is going on between Ladybug and young M Agreste</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>That's a nice fantasy snake but a naive one</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Yeah, press'll make up the story they want, no matter what are the facts!</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> let them</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> If they're so determined to believe a lie and publicise it, nothing will stop them</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> at least we can ensure that no-one can claim that the truth is ont out there and easy to find.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> on the other hand, i like optimists no matter how much they make me roll my eyes</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I know where you're coming from Vipe but this isn't just something I can do without others' consent. I've obviously got work to do.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> got to prove that i am a hero and not just a horny fraud in a red-and-black stripper's costume</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss LOGGED OFF of the CHAT</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I, meanwhile, have a party to prepare for</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Yes, mummy and daddy are actually going through the charade of the anniversary party.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I wonder if mummy was telling the truth last night when she screamed that she was going to serve daddy with the divorce papers in the middle of the party?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> girl...</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> I can be  there if you need me</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>the horrible thing is?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i'm so used to it that it doesn't bother me at all.</p>
<hr/><p>As she sat on a bench in a small riverside park, Kagami realised that she had never really stopped feeling wonder at the world into which she had stumbled that day she gave that stupid, childish challenge to the fencing class in Collége Francoise Dupont, almost a year ago. The heroes of the United States were well known, of course. They had, over  the years, saved the entire world many times. Still, she never dreamed that she would be part of this world in such an intimate way.</p><p>The girl stroked the Dragon Miraculous meditatively as she considered how her perception of herself and the way she lived her life had changed in so many ways, both subtle and overt. In so many ways, she had become a different person since Hawkmoth turned her childish sense of hurt pride into a monster called <em>Riposte</em> and used it for the cause of evil.</p><p>She had gained a true cause, a sense of true purpose and honour and, most importantly, brothers and sisters in arms. All in the name <em>Ryuuko</em>.</p><p>She had also had to confront her questions about her own self-worth. She also had to confront something that she couldn't help but consider a betrayal, even though she was more than half-convinced that it had been something just waiting to happen.</p><p>"You have to admire her sense of style, no matter what else you think of her." Longg's words and his swift dive into her blazer pocket made Kagami look up from her introspection. There was a distinctive '<em>thwip-whiz</em>' sound as Ladybug's yo-yo connected with the light pole just behind her. The red-and-black costumed superheroine used the anchor point to suddenly change her swing-over into a swoop downwards. The yo-yo snapped back into its mistress's hand and, with a sudden droning buzz, glowing pink-red wings appeared behind the heroine's back and blurred into motion, slowing her to a halt just as her feet touched the ground.</p><p>Ladybug gently set Adrien, whom she'd had in a bridal carry, back onto his feet. The blond boy looked more than a little pale and was clearly testing to make sure that both his feet were firmly planted on the ground. For some reason Kagami didn't want to analyse, she found a certain childish satisfaction at his having clearly experienced discomfort through Ladybug's powers.</p><p>Ladybug shot Adrien a tight, professional and profoundly uncomfortable smile that made Kagami wonder if she had missed something. "Kagami," the heroine said. Kagami interrupted immediately.</p><p>"Ladybug-<em>sama</em>, you do not owe me any explanation or apology..."</p><p>"But I <em>do</em>!" Kagami blinked as the angry tone of Ladybug's words washed over her. "Kagami, he is <em>yours </em>and I <em>know </em>that! However, I let my fantasies, my desires and my thoughtless selfishness control my actions and I've caused you, a girl whose honourable and honest nature I deeply admire, the deepest pain. I can never give restitution for this and I will never escape the shame I feel for having done this." Kagami's eyes opened wide as Ladybug half-bowed and lowered her head to stare at the ground, holding the position for three seconds - a Chinese apology bow (Kagami would one day learn that she had learned this from her adoptive cousin, a hero named Ladydragon). "All I can hope is that that there is something I can do to somehow earn your trust again."</p><p>Kagami stuttered for a moment, struggling to find some response... <em>any</em> response... that would not be a profound and unforgivable insult for such a courageous act. She stepped into Ladybug's space and took both her hands in hers. "Ladybug... <em>oneesan</em>... Please..." By pure force of will, the Japanese girl avoided shedding tears. "Ladybug, if I feel any ill-will to you, it is only for exposing just how... <em>false and inadequate</em> my relationship with Adrien was. I was enamoured mostly by the <em>idea</em> of the perfect boy, not the reality of the man himself." Kagami gave a sob and managed a watery smile. "If anything, it is <em>I</em> who feel shame now for actually being surprised that you would choose to apologise and offer to accept my terms for peace between us whilst they were yet unheard!"</p><p>So focussed were the three young people that none of them noticed Ladybug's yo-yo give a trilling quadruple beep to indicate that it had received a message over the Chat system.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>@TrueQueen has issued an AKUMA ALERT</strong>
</p>
<hr/><p>"If I can get a word in here," Adrien looked profoundly uncomfortable and Kagami now realised that it hadn't just been the trip through the city in Ladybug's arms that was the cause. "You two ladies... <em>Mon dieu</em>, you are going to be the death of me. Don't you think I have <em>any </em>agency and choice in this?" The young man drew in a deep breath and tried to centre himself.</p><p>"Kagami, Ladybug, I am so very, <em>very</em> sorry. For the longest time, I'd had the biggest crush on Ladybug here. She was..." The young man paused and then gave a rueful laugh. "She was <em>the perfect girl</em>: A combination of beauty, strength, will and love. You know what the problem is with paragons like that? They're untouchable aspirations, not a reality and, because of that, I realised that there was no good pursuing it <em>because</em> it was an illusion, one that the reality of a relationship could never capture. So..." Adrien stopped at that point and looked down at his shoes, his hands curling into fists and relaxing only to start shaking as he grappled with his emotions.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?SUBTHREAD:TacticalAnalysis</strong>
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  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY</strong>
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  <strong>User: queenb_verified@ladyblog.fr (@TrueQueen) - Voice2Text</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Okay, heads up losers and get over to the Trocadero</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> SomeTHING, I don't know what, has just grabbed the Mayor and his wife from their anniversary party</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I think that it's a sentimonster, shaped like a giant indigo moth</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen </strong>I haven't seen any sign of <span class="u">#Mayura</span> or an akuma controlling it.</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I'm keeping 200m back and swinging rather than flying to stop myself being silhouetted against the sky</p>
<hr/><p>Adrien put his hands on Ladybug and Kagami's shoulders. "The truth... the <em>shameful</em> truth... is because I couldn't get Ladybug, I tried to find a substitute. A brave, beautiful, willful but ultimately loving and caring woman. Someone who so closely resembled Ladybug that I could see her in the role."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Kagami. You deserve <em>so much</em>. You deserve happiness. You deserve to be placed on a pedestal and treated like the goddess you are by someone who can finally drown out Tsurugi-san's constant bitter criticism and love you with all their heart... but that isn't me." Adrien sighed. "All I would ever do is try to make you into someone you aren't and, in that, I'd be abusing you as unforgivably as the woman who claims to be your mother does."</p><p>Adrien made a disgusted noise and hugged himself for a moment. "I feel so <em>dirty</em>. I'm as bad as <em>he</em> is: Manipulating and trying to remake people into the things I want them to be!"</p><p>Adrien was actually quite surprised when he was suddenly engulfed by Kagami and Ladybug's arms.</p>
<hr/><p><strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat.php?SUBTHREAD:TacticalAnalysis<br/>
</strong> <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY<br/>
</strong> <strong>User: queenb_verified@ladyblog.fr (@TrueQueen) - Voice2Text</strong></p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> So, what the fuck is this show?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I've got eyes on the <span class="u">#mothmonster</span> and <span class="u">#Hawkmoth</span>. M and Mme Bourgeois are still being held by the Sentimonster but there's someone else here. Elderly Chinese guy in... Is that a *chicken suit*? He's somehow using a *bugle* to keep back one of Hawkmoth's patent butterfly clouds!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Where the hell are the rest of you guys?</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> im 180 seconds out, honey; hold on!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Okay, chickenman is tiring; out of time so I'll handle this myself. I can one-shot hawkie with my Venom from behind if I angle the swing right...</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> FUCK MAYURAS RIGHT BEHIND...</p><p>
  <strong>@TrueQueen broadcast SOS</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>[[Carrier Lost]]</strong>
</p>
<hr/><p>"I... hope that we can still be friends?" Ladybug asked. The plaintive sound of her voice made Kagami's heart ache.</p><p>"<em>Oneechan</em>... Nothing would break that. I will not permit it."</p><p>Adrien smiled bitterly but nodded in satisfaction. "I'm glad you two are going to be okay. Ladybug, I'd be grateful if you could fly me home... with less acrobatics." He was shocked to receive a painful poke in the chest from Ladybug and a punch to the bicep from Kagami.</p><p>"You don't get to give up on our friendship either, M Agreste," Ladybug growled. The superheroine pulled out her yo-yo. "Now, let's see what's someone's been shooting me texts about..."</p><p>"LADYBUG!" The two girls looked up in shock in response to Adrien's shout as three deadly robotic-looking black insects with yellow stripes suddenly dived towards them out of the sky and, suddenly, all three teenagers were aware of the screams, crashes, alarms and sounds of panic from the city around them.</p><p>"Queen Wasp's drones?" Ladybug was frozen for a moment in horror. "How...?"</p><p>Kagami's watch-phrase had always been '<em>Do not hesitate</em>'. The girl reached into her long gym bag, pulled out her <em>bokken</em> and threw herself into the path of the drones without any discernible fear. The hard wooden implement smashed into two of the drones with lightning-fast blows, causing them to flash into golden fire and vaporise. The third avoided Kagami's hurried parry and dived for her, only to be smashed from the sky by Ladybug's yo-yo.</p><p>Kagami brandished her weapon, twirling it around her wrist like she'd seen in a certain sci-fi/fantasy film franchise as Ladybug began to twirl her tool to form a circular shield out of its spinning cord. Kagami looked over at the Champion of Paris out of the corner of her eye. "Ladybug-sama, get Adrien to safety. I will cover our retreat for as long as I can." Ladybug looked significantly at Kagami's choker and the other girl shook her head. They did not know how much the drones could relay back to their mistress and, consequently, to Hawkmoth through the akuma parasite. She could not transform in the open, even if they trusted Adrien never to speak.</p><p>The two girls would have argued if a huge stream of perhaps hundreds of drones had not separated themselves from the malignant cloud hovering over the centre of Paris and, like a demonic finger, began to arc towards them. "There's no time for arrogant, stupid heroics! RUN!" Ladybug screamed.</p><p>The three youths dived into the protective embrace of the Seine but, just as she was airborne, Kagami felt something strike her in the small of the back. She felt her mind and will dissolve as she struck the water. As Miracle Queen's malignant will spread through her, the impact against the water blew all the air from the lungs. She was no longer aware of anything as her body reflexively breathed in, sucking burning water into her lungs. She never felt the hollowness as her heart stopped beating just as Ladybug's hand grabbed her and dragged her into the inspection shelter connected to the Paris sewer system built under the riverbank.</p><p>Adrien shook his head and coughed up the last of the water in his lungs before looking at Ladybug, who was astride Kagami's still body, desperately throwing all of herself into performing CPR on the other girl. "NO! FUCK NO! YOU DON'T GET TO DO THIS TO ME! BREATHE KAGAMI! <strong>BREATHE</strong>!"</p><p>"Ladybug...!" Adrien breathed out.</p><p>The red-and-black suited superheroine reached for Kagami's throat with trembling fingers to check her pulse and, as she did so, she touched the Dragon Miraculous. She noted dully that Longg did not appear. The only reason why the kwami would not respond to someone interfering with the Miraculous would be if his holder's soul had already fled this life. "No...! " she whispered and sobbed loudly bending her head over Kagami's still form. Blindly, automatically, she took the Miraculous from around Kagami's pale throat and tied it around her own neck.</p><p>"Ladybug?"</p><p>"Adrien... I... I'm so sorry. Kagami is gone... I wasn't... I wasn't fast enough..."</p><p>Adrien stood and walked over, warily touching Ladybug on the shoulder as he would a wounded and frightened wild animal. "Ladybug, people have died before because of Akuma attacks..."</p><p>Ladybug smiled bitterly. "I know. The only thing that can save Kagami now is my Lucky Charm. For that to help, I have to find and defeat Queen Wasp. I'm sorry that I have to leave you here with..." the superheroic girl looked silently at Kagami's body.</p><p>"You have to do what you have to do, Ladybug."</p><p>Ladybug nodded and stood, stepping away from Adrien and her fallen friend. She flipped open her yo-yo, pulling out a small green macaroon, which she tossed into her mouth and swallowed immediately. There was a pink flash and suddenly her costume was covered in chevron-shaped patterns that made it look like fish scales. Pink fllippers appeared around her feet, forearms and across her back. A crimson flash emerged from the choker she had tied around her throat and resolved into a small red creature with gold-and-black horns. "Longg... I am sorry about..."</p><p>"The fortunes of war, Ladybug. Now I am ready to fight!"</p><p>Ladybug nodded. "Tikki, Longg, <strong>UNIFY</strong>!" There was a red-and-pink flash and suddenly a gold-edged red dragon was added to Ladybug's costume, starting on her left boot, crossing the centre of her chest and ending wrapped around her neck. Golden borders appeared around the colour borders of her costume and Ryuuko's Dragon Sabre materialised, strapped diagonally across her back.</p><p>"Stay here, Adrien," the heroine said with a sad authority. She leant down and kissed Kagami on the forehead. "Farewell, <em>mèimei</em>. I will avenge you." Adrien's spinning mind picked up on the Chinese for 'little sister', recalling that various Chinese idioms and sayings had started appearing in the heroine's vocabulary in the last four months or so. DragonBug turned and leapt into the water with the parting snarling oath: "<em>I will avenge you</em>."</p><p>In the sudden silence after DragonBug's departure, Adrien stroked Plagg's head as the black kwami emerged from his dripping over-shirt. "So, what's the plan, kid?"</p><p>"We get to DragonBug and we stand by her, for better or for worse." Adrien smiled. "As always." Adrien gently closed Kagami's eyes and placed a kiss of his own on her forehead. "Hang tight, 'Gami. We're coming for you!"</p><p>"Here's hoping that it's for the better," Plagg remarked dryly. "This is going to be a tough one Adrien. If Buzzybee's switched sides, she knows all your powers and all your moves."</p><p>"I know." Adrien sighed. "I guess that's the point of being a hero: You do the right thing, no matter how hard it is. Now, we have to get to M'lady's side." The boy pulled an engraved oak wood cigar box out of his over-shirt (gleefully taken from his father's 'cupboard of miscellaneous and unwanted gifts') and lifted out of it a green-coloured wedge of cheese that he tossed to his Kwami.</p><p>"<em>Aqua-Plagg</em>!" the cat-like Spirit of Destruction cheered as he developed mer-like characteristics.</p><p>Adrien extended his right arm, his clenched fist brandishing the Black Cat Miraculous. "Aqua-Plagg... <em>Claws Out!</em>" There was a flash of bright, poison green that revealed the aqua form of Chat Noir. Without hesitation, he leapt into the water and towards his Lady.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Don't worry, the next chapter is already in work and should be up by the end of next week!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Truth and Lies (Miracle Queen, Part 1)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the aftermath of a near-cataclysmic breach in security for Team Miraculous, both sides of the magical war in Paris pause to take stock. For Team Miraculous, the time has come to determine if they can even TRUST one of their founder members anymore.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It would have been nice to believe that Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth, was only making a <em>show</em> of reading the translated Guardian Grimoire taken from the former Guardian of the Miracle Box whilst actually being entirely focussed on the rhythmic bleeping coming from the heart monitor and the rhythmic 'hiss' of the ventilator attached to Nathalie Sancour. The woman was 'sleeping' under the influence of the powerful muscular relaxants that had been pumped into her as it was the only thing that stopped the continual wracking cough for long enough to let the woman breathe. However, that would not be in his nature. Such was the way the man's mind worked that he spoke to his near-comatose assistant more as a meditative exercise to ensure that he was recalling events correctly and to release his anger. So sure he was of his eventual victory that Nathalie's teetering on the brink of death or a horrible living death was merely an irritating inconvenience to be resolved at a later time when the tools were in hand.</p><p>"The frustrating thing," the man monologued into the silent suite in Agreste Manor, "is that it was all nearly for nothing. I don't know how it was possible but somehow the girl <em>faked</em> being under my control. The whole thing seems to have been nothing but an elaborate <em>charade</em>." The man blew out a frustrated breath but his stoic expression barely changed. "I really don't know how it was possible and I will have to take steps in the future to ensure that does not reoccur. Of course, it means that almost nothing we learned from this incident is entirely trustworthy. We all know that little Mlle Bourgeois is an adept narcissistic liar and there is no telling how much truth there was in the scenario she presented to us, if there was any at all!"</p><p>Nathalie's life-support equipment continued to bleep and hiss, creating a simple mantra-like background track for Gabriel as he continued to examine the treasure-trove of knowledge about the Miraculous that he had captured.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> okay, now everyone has had time to take a deep breath...</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> what the HELL happened there Chloe?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> civvies in peril, boss. i had to...</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> you WILLINGLY allowed yourself to be akumatised! For that alone I should bench you for good! Even erase your memories if i knew for sure how that works!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak: </strong>hey, you said that we'd hear her out before handing out punishments!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Look, my mama and papa were being held over a 100m drop! Hawkmoth gave me five seconds to make a decision and Rena was still a minute out! What was I *supposed* to do?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> keep talking, queen bee</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> the weird thing was all that i could think of was the Liar</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>how we worked out she was hawkie's willing stooge because she could remember everything?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i guessed...</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i HOPED that maybe it meant that i would still have full control over my actions when akumatised and maybe hold Hawkmoth in check until everyone else got there</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> damn</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> you have a pair of two-kilo brass ones, babe</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i'm guessing from the drone swarm that your brilliant plan didn't work out?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> yeah</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i forgot about the... what did you call it? The 'false psyche'?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> That's the term the Guardians used to describe it to me, yes</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> well, i think of her as 'the evil, perverse and hateful harpy who I hope dies in a fire'</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> it was like having all your worst aspects in your head as a full, separate mind who is trying to make you her meat puppet</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> not something that i'd want to experience ever again</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> oh chloe!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i'm guessing that this wasn't the end of the tale?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> what can I say? Us Bourgeois girls are too dumb and stubborn to give up</p>
<hr/><p><em>Yes! Yes!</em> Miracle Queen's shrill voice in Chloe's head was making it difficult for the girl to concentrate. What made it no easier was the blank, <em>dead</em> expressions on Alya and Nino's faces and their glowing golden eyes as they knelt before her and held their Miraculous rigidly out in front of them. <em>Yes! Rena Rouge and Carapace are no more! Tell the Butterfly Lord of your slaves' true identities!</em></p><p>Chloe was having to slowly enunciate every thought in her head. Focus her will utterly on every move. Concentrate solely on what she wanted and not let the akuma's mental voice distract her because, if she allowed that to happen, she was afraid she'd be washed away as easily as she was when the Swarm had been unleashed.</p><p>"What... What... is this... <em>utterly ridiculous</em> charade?" Chloe shrieked out, horror adding credibility to the anger she was trying to express in her words. "Does Ladybug... take me for... a <em>fool</em>?"</p><p>Hawkmoth stepped up, frowning in concern. "Your Majesty, is something amiss?"</p><p>
  <em>Do not resist! Do not prevaricate! Do not falsify! Tell the Butterfly Lord what you know and forever destroy these weak so-called heroes' usefulness to that woman who dared scorn your favours!</em>
</p><p>"These are not the Fox and Turtle Heroes! Ladybug must have started having them swap Miraculouses whilst out of action as an additional security measure!"</p><p>Mayura looked shaky on her feet for some reason but managed to totter over. "On examination, they <em>look</em> like their transformed selves!"</p><p>"Disguise magic!" Chloe hissed. "Clever... clever move on that black-and-red <em>slut's </em>part but not clever enough!"</p><p>Hawkmoth chuckled. "Indeed, Your Majesty. You have defeated her even more completely by exposing this pitiful deception!" Chloe smiled evilly, something made much easier by Miracle Queen's scream of fury in her head.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat</strong>
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  <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY</strong>
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  <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Oh chloe, I'm sorry! I never guessed what you were going through!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>When I looked at the status display on my yo-yo and everyone was 'offline' except for yours, which read 'signal compromised'?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> well, I was just running on adrenaline, anger and a need to stop you</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> i mean... god, i was gonna KILL you at the Trocadero</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>tonight, i was all set to chew you out and throw you out or maybe just beat you black and blue and then leave you in some distant hospital but you were going through *hell*</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> um</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak: </strong>er Ladybug? you don't want to do that anymore?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> really?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> don't worry Mousie; i'm coming down a lot from fight-or-flight</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> so, anyway, i'm guessing that your scheme was the origin of Bad Team Miraculous?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> i thought that i was dreaming when I saw them</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> or maybe that hawkmoth was playing 'pass the Miraculous' because...</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> well, because a guy has to have a hobby?</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> it explains why I woke up without my Miraculous</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> and why I woke up wearing the Horse Miraculous with Kaalki lecturing me on my 'ignoble' descent. Li'l dude has issues.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I'd say "he's a nice guy really" but it would be a lie</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> even the other kwami think that he's a stuck-up snob</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> there was one big advantage</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>foxy, i learned that you are *hot* in skin-tight snake-skin</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> gonna be the source of many sweet dream</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> #O.O#</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> kidding but, Cap, you so much as put a foot wrong and I'm POUNCING</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> um ladybug?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> could you explain why I woke up in a noisome underwater chamber under the river-bank?</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> also without my Miraculous?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Ryuuko... I'm sorry</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> something happened as you dived into the river. I looked back when I got Adrien to safety but you were drifting down, totally limp</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> you'd drowned; I tried to resuscitate you but it was too late</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>i'm sorry, i was too slow</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> I... died?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>Ryuuko, i'm so very sorry; it was the worst moment of my life</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> As a civilian, Adrien was your first priority; as a hero, I had to look out for myself</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> you did nothing wrong</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Wait, Stormy was dead?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@True Queen:</strong> Because of me?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> oh god</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> oh sweet, merciful god</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i get it now, why you were so mad</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> why you looked like you were ready to cut off my head with that sword</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>if someone had betrayed us and Stormy had died</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> if ANY of us had died</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> if I'd seen them die in front of me like that</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>literally *under my hands*?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i would have found the traitor and torn them apart with my bare hands</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> nothing and nobody would have stopped me</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> fuck, <span class="u">@NarrowSqueak</span>, where were you?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> I'm not sure?</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>Multimouse, please!</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> [REPLY DELETED]</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> don't freak out but I was crossing the road when the swarm attacked me</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> i woke up with the Miraculous Cure washing over me beside the road next to a car</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> I think... I was run over?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> well</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>there you have it</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>two team kills in the same mission</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> chloe, don't do this</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Ladybug, you can take this as my resignation. Come 2 the hotel; I'll give the Bee Miraculous back to you and then</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> then i'll talk daddy into putting me into a convent or something</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> CHLOE, SHUT UP</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Chloe Bourgeois ceases to exist</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> you'll never have to see me again</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> NO ONE HAS TO <strong>[POST INTERRUPTED by ADMIN]</strong></p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss MUTED @TrueQueen</strong>
</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> chloe, no-one is talking about punishment any more</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> what does rule 2 say?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz: </strong>akuma hosts are victims; they need help and not punishment</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> you did what you could and the evil that monster did was not by your will</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>So, you're gonna take a deep breath, stop panicking and let your brain catch up</p><p><strong>@DragonGrrrl:</strong> We are all here, Bee-chan</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> you didn't lose anyone</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> we're here for you, girl</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> we all still love you, chloe</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> so, if you're up to it</p><p>
  <strong>@BugBoss UNMUTED @TrueQueen</strong>
</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> im okay now</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i love you all too</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> so, you were giving us your report about the fight with the mind-controlled swapped-around heroes?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>Yeah, so I said that it was taking all my concentration to *shove* that bitch in the right direction and at the right moment?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> well, the minute you two dropped out of the sky with hell and damnation riding on your coat-tails, that all went out the window</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i don't know what happened but she went over into some kind of 'full-auto' mode</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>everything was happening faster than I could react</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> i'm just lucky that you two are good at your jobs and there is obviously a 'settling in' time for using a new primary Miraculous</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> I guess… I figured that foxy would be jealous that she didn't get footage of it?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> It was really cinematic!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, Marinette tried a little 'good cop/bad cop' on Chloe using the Ladybug and Multimouse personae. Only she learned that she underestimated the amount of love Chloe has - Love enough for her parents to risk everything for them and love enough for her team-mates that the thought of causing them harm comes close to destroying her.</p><p>Part 2 is almost done and may be posted at some point tonight. Tomorrow at the latest.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. War of the Miraculous (Miracle Queen, Part 2)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The heroes and villains meet head-on. Will it be a decisive battle or will it just be the start of a new phase of the story?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To describe Miracle Queen as 'hopping mad' would be an understatement. Ladybug... was that Ladybug? Her costume was different and she suddenly had a whole new raft of powers... She and Chat Noir had dropped in so suddenly that she literally had no time to assemble any kind of decent counter-strategy.</p><p>Lady Naga and Howler had gone down almost immediately, fumbling with their Miraculous and tools in a way that only confirmed to the akuma that her host had been lying when she handed out the Miraculous to what she claimed was their 'real holders'. For a few moments, she'd hoped that Palonino and Illysion would even the odds but she'd forgotten that the heroes, blast them, had practiced counter-strategies against the Horse and Fox Miraculous. ChatMonkey somehow was able to block himself falling through a Voyage portal by extending his staff to twice it's normal length and using it to brace himself against the edges of the portal. Meanwhile a whirling yo-yo had slashed through all of Illysuion's Mirages in one ultra-efficient sweep, revealing and entangling the true Fox thrall, who was  thrown with a single yo-yo swing head-over-heels into an unyielding wall, which he struck with a horrendous and decisive 'crunch'. Hardshell was proving as useless as the big blond-dyed jock had looked from the start, hiding under his Shell-Ter and offering no useful assistance whatsoever to either his fellow thralls or to his Queen.</p><p>Miracle Queen was a great believer in 'if you want something done properly, do it yourself' even if 'do it yourself' was just to find more minions to fight for you. However, the Water Dragon vortex bubble that this 'DragonBug' was using to keep her drones and thralls away was also pressing her hard against a wall. Only by pressing herself hard back against the stone was she able to avoid being drowned by the fast current. All she could do was mentally call out to her other thralls and order them to come to her immediately</p><p>"<strong>UPROAR!</strong>" ChatMonkey shouted, creating a very, very familiar object from the power of the Monkey Miraculous, which he cast right at her before back-flipping over Hardshell who, finally, had dropped his shield bubble and was charging the hero, leading with the Turtle Shield. The merger of the Black Cat and Monkey staffs slammed into the small of Hardshell's unprotected back and he went down in a tangle of flailing, useless limbs, paralysed by the strike to a vulnerable nerve cluster that ChatMonkey somehow knew how to find.</p><p>Meanwhile, the attack charm generated by the Uproar attack lofted towards her.</p><p>For Chloe, time had slowed down to a crawl as her corrupted and distorted mind locked onto the object growing closer and closer: A simple beige teddy-bear with a black-and-white striped belly. <em>Mr Cuddly!</em> How the power of the Monkey Miraculous had known to create this she would never know and perhaps never have the courage to ask. The sight of this symbol of all the happiest moments of her childhood gave Chloe a strength that she couldn't even imagine: Strength enough to do the one thing that she could to help at this point. She twisted her hip so that the Uproar charm struck the Bee Trompo, in which the akuma was residing, head on.</p><p>For some reason it turned into a disco ball.</p><p>Every nerve-ending briefly exploded into pain and then numbness before suddenly, like a ray of sunshine and a breath of fresh air, Chloe's mind was unclouded. With a scream of agony, the false psyche that was Miracle Queen disintegrated as the Uproar attack disrupted all her powers. All around Paris, the army of thralls that Miracle Queen had summoned in a last ditch defence, some of which were even pushing their way through the Water Dragon barrier, stumbled and collapsed as the evil hold on their minds vanished.</p><p>There was a metallic 'snick' as the Dragon Sabre punched right through the centre of the bizarre miniature disco ball dangling from Miracle Queen's hip, shattering it into splinters. Miracle Queen was covered in purple smoke and energy for a moment and, when it cleared, an exhausted-looking Queen Bee was revealed. The ultraviolet-and-black butterfly escaped, fluttering upwards towards the roof of the Trocadero but DragonBug had other things on her mind than catching and purifying it. The point of the Dragon Sabre rose up to point at the centre of Chloe's throat. DragonBug tapped the point against the bottom of Chloe's chin, forcing the other girl to look into her eyes.</p><p>"It's over, Queen Bee," she hissed. <em>Give me an excuse, bitch</em>, she added silently. <em>Start trying to play it like Lila would. 'Oh Ladybug, I was akumatised and I can't remember anything! Did I hurt anyone? Oh noes!' All with that false expression of regret with the delight in your eyes that makes it clear that you know you're going to get away with murder <strong>again</strong>. Give me one solid reason to finish this the way that makes sure you never hurt anyone ever again; the way I should have dealt with <strong>her</strong> after Heroes' Day</em>. DragonBug was expecting bluster, misdirection and even pleas. What she wasn't expecting was what she got.</p><p>"Ladybug, I yield; the battle is yours." Chloe extended her hands to either side to show that they were empty. The phrase that they used during practice sessions to confirm their surrender cut through the red haze of rage in DragonBug's mind. Suddenly the savage need for blood and revenge was gone and the Champion of Paris was back in full charge of her reactions.</p><p>"V... Very well. Pull off your Miraculous, <em>slowly</em> and hand it to..."</p><p>"We haven't got time for this! There's an old guy on the roof and Hawkmoth and Mayura are trying to get at him! He's been holding them off with his bugle but I don't know how long he can..."</p><p>DragonBug shook her head at the torrent of seeming nonsense pouring from Chloe's mouth. Had the girl suddenly gone insane? Was that what this was all about? "What are you raving about?"</p><p>"An old guy in a chicken suit! I mean... A magical bugle that's disrupting their attacks? It's got to be a Miraculous, right?"</p><p>"Chicken suit...? <strong>MASTER</strong>!" With a buzz of magical wings, DragonBug leapt vertically away from Chloe and towards the roof.</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________</p><p><strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat<br/>
</strong> <strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY<br/>
</strong> <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong></p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Who was the old guy anyway?</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> That was the old Guardian</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> I'd actually met him a couple of times before we started the program of long-term activation of heroes.</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> He was kind, funny and very wise for all I get the impression that he was winging it sometimes.</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> did he get away?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> unfortunately, no</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> it was taking too long to fight my way past Hawkmoth and that damn sword-cane of his.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> it was only a matter of time before Mayura's sentimonster got past his defences so</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> so he renounced his guardianship</p><p><strong>@Snekcharmer:</strong> something tells me that this means more than it sounds like</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> you'd be right</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>a Guardian knows far, far more than it is safe to allow to be revealed to outsiders.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> when a Guardian renounces their position, the spell that gives them their office erases their memories about the Miraculous and the magic that they are taught to help protect and look after the kwami</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> Wayzz is still a bit cut up about that</p><p><strong>@NotARenaissanceArtist:</strong> he quite loved the old dude</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> can I just say that <span class="u">@Ladyblogger</span> showed me a video from the Trocadero's security cameras of you and Chat fighting... well... mind-controlled us</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> they also caught LB fighting hawkie</p><p><strong>@FoxyBabe:</strong> since when does your yo-yo turn into a whirling energy shield made of bug wings?</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> our tools have a lot of hidden powers; before I got the wings, I could ride my trompo like it was a little jet engine lifting me off of the ground that I could steer by leaning in the right direction</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> it never happened before; it may have been somehow associated with my unifying the Ladybug and Dragon Miraculouses</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>or maybe somehow I was focussing Ladyupgrade through it</p><p><strong>@Foxybabe:</strong> Well, lb and him were going at each other like those space wizard characters from Galaxy Battles! I'm glad that I was out cold at the time because I wouldn't have liked to be in the middle of that!</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> well, Hawkmoth decided that he'd have the Miraculous even if he couldn't have the secrets of the Guardians. He and Mayura threw everything they had at us, hoping that we'd used up so much against <span class="u">#MiracleQueen</span> that they could wear us down</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> which is when Mlle Bourgeois showed that she has some surprises that she'd never mentioned before</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Still trying to decide what she should do, Chloe looked up from where she was leaning against the nearest wall as she heard her team leader's angry yet confident and commanding voice ring out. "It's over Hawkmoth. Your scheme's failed, Chat has Mayura cornered and every step you're taking is <em>backwards</em>."</p><p>Hawkmoth's reply had a clear sneer that Chloe didn't need to see to be aware of. "Oh, you're good at sparring, little girl but you're still out of your league. You should have captured my akuma rather than indulge yourself with that confrontation with your friend to convince me that you didn't know about her scheme from the start! You were able to stop <em>one</em> akuma by using up almost all your powers. So, I wonder, how will you handle <em>several hundred of them</em>?</p><p>Chloe gasped involuntarily. The butterfly cloud! If Hawkmoth could dispatch it, he could turn everyone within hundreds of meters into a supervillain! They'd be overwhelmed in seconds!</p><p>Much against her will, her eyes tracked to the strange octagonal puzzle box that Hawkmoth had called 'The Miracle Box'. Overturned during the fight with Miracle Queen's thralls, several of the spare Miraculouses had fallen out, most notably a pair of strange charcoal grey hairclips that looked a bit like ram's horns. Somehow they... <em>called</em> to her in this moment.</p><p>"I'm digging my own grave here," she muttered as she clipped them into her hair, holding back her side bangs. There was a flare of bronze light out of the corner of her eye and a Kwami that looked for all the world like a chibi anthropomorphic goat materialised.</p><p>"Eyup, girlie! Ah'm Ziggy the Goat Miraculous! I c'n let ya wield Hardhead, the power of the Will! All y'have to say is: 'Ziggy! Jump the fence'!"</p><p>"Thanks but I know what to do. POLLEN! ZIGGY! <strong>UNIFY</strong>!" Chloe's costume changed, with a bronze-brown insert from groin to the base of her ribs, a black-tipped white pattern resembling a goat's legs on her boots and gloves and finally sweeping brown horn-like extensions from sides of her mask. A strange hooked staff materialised into her hand.</p><p>Barely knowing what she was doing, she pointed the... was this a <em>shepherd's crook...</em> at the roof and concentrated. "You're not going to hurt anyone else today you luchador-masked <em>monster</em>. <strong>HARDHEAD</strong>!" To Chloe, it was like her mind had leapt out of her skin, launching towards the huge cloud of akuma scattering in all directions. "No way, you're getting away with this!" She never decided if the words had come from her lips or mind. Instead she tried to pull all the Butterflies back together, to reverse their impulse to find angry or scared people and turn them into monsters to serve as Hawkmoth's army. Instead, let them return to their master in his hour of need!</p><p>She never noticed the blood dribbling from both nostrils and pooling on the ground.</p><p>__________________________________________________________________________</p><p><strong>ChatRoom chat.ladyblog.fr/miracuchat </strong><br/>
<strong>Status: PRIVATE/INVITATION ONLY<br/>
</strong> <strong>User: ladybug_verified@ladyblog.fr (@BugBoss) - ADMIN/OWNER</strong></p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> she was detransformed and passed out in a pool of blood when we found her.</p><p><strong>@NarrowSqueak:</strong> merde, chlo! killing yourself was not the way to fix this!</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen:</strong> Well, it worked, didn't it?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> amongst other things, Hardhead can be used to influence a single mind to do a single thing. To attempt to influence *hundreds* of minds? Even as simple minds as insects?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> When you factor in the energy drain from running two Miraculouses at once...</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> Well, like Mousey said, Chloe, we were lucky that we didn't lose you</p><p><strong>@TrueQueen: </strong>can I say at this point how strange it was to wake up in my bed, with the Bee Miraculous on my vanity instead of in the prison cell in which I was going to spend the rest of my life?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> yeah, and that's my part to explain</p><p><strong>@BugBoss: </strong>Chat had taken Mayura down and she was... fitting? It looked bad, whatever it was</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> The minute she started convulsing, Hawkmoth suddenly lost all his interest in the fight. He had his butterfly cloud snatch him up, grabbed her... nearly knocked my head off with his cane... and flew off</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I called for my lucky charm to undo all the chaos and disaster and you know what it was?</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> a medallion with the Bee Miraculous's sigil in the centre of a heart and star.</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> I knew what Tikki was telling me right away</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> chloe, i'm sorry for coming on so strong earlier on tonight but i had to hear your whole story</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz: </strong>we had to be sure that you hadn't decided to change coats back to our side when you realised who was going to win</p><p><strong>@Cool4Catz:</strong> we're glad that we were right to trust you</p><p><strong>@BugBoss:</strong> you really are a hero; one of the best of us</p><p>___________________________________________________________________________</p><p>Gabriel Agreste smiled evilly at the page of the translated Grimoire he was looking at. "Ah, so that is how you do it!" He shook his head. "How startlingly simple and yet so subtly artistic in its perfection and pattern! The Mage was clearly a genius! A god amongst ants!" He shut off the tablet computer and tucked it under his arm before standing up. "Well, onward and upward it seems. A setback but also a great step forward and a power soon to be fully available for us to finally sweep aside those foolish children with their ridiculous, stereotypical superheroics!" He shook his head. "If only they understood the great work in the way of which they have chosen to stand!"</p><p>There was a long pause as he considered his assistant. Nathalie had started to convulse weakly, making faint coughing sounds. With a cold, indifferent expression, he pressed the button to summon the doctors and nurses he had hired with no care at the expense to tend to her needs. Then he leant down and placed a brotherly kiss on her feverish forehead. "Rest well and regain your strength, my dear Nathalie. I have much work for you in the weeks and months to come."</p><p>The alert medics quickly barged in, pushing carts of various medical tools and medicines. Without any obvious interest in the outcome of their efforts and certainly no desire to waste time micromanaging people he'd hired on the basis of their alleged competence, Gabriel left Nathalie's sickroom to obtain the tools he needed for the next task he'd set himself.</p><p>~~~~~</p><p>Chloe had lost track of time. She was still sitting in front of her vanity, staring at the screen of her tablet, which had long since shut down as the battery ran out of charge. She looked up in surprise when she heard her balcony door open. With a strange sense of inevitability, she looked into the black polka-dotted red mask of Ladybug.</p><p>"I was expecting you," the blonde heiress said dully. "Please... please let me have a few minutes to say goodbye to Pollen..."</p><p>"I'm not here to confiscate your Miraculous." Ladybug stood for a long moment, her posture neutral and uncommunicative. "Firstly, just to let you know, we're instituting a buddy system. The bottom line is that what happened today only happened because you were alone and didn't wait for Rena to reach you."</p><p>"He was going to <em>drop my</em>..."</p><p>"So you could have disengaged and caught them... Or told Rena do so as she approached. I know that I couldn't stay calm and analytical if our positions were reversed but you took a risky path here, Chloe. Maybe the <em>riskiest possible</em> one. You were trying to protect the innocent - those you loved - and I'll never condemn that. However, you've got to try to fight <em>smarter</em>. That's the first lesson that Chat and I learned and you need to learn it too." Ladybug shook her head and awkwardly patted the other girl on the shoulder. "Chloe, Queen Bee does not have to save the day <em>alone</em>!"</p><p>Chloe nodded soberly. She wanted to protest and wave her ego around but the prideful, selfish and demanding mind-set of Miracle Queen was still echoing in her head and she didn't want to be that person.</p><p>"Now, the Buddy System: No-one goes around without someone as close as possible nearby as backup. At school, you know that you have Multimouse, Rena and Carapace to assist you."</p><p>Chloe smiled slightly. "You're handling the fact that I know Luka, Kim, Max, Alya, Mari and Nino's secret identities pretty well."</p><p>Ladybug shrugged, her face twisted into a pained grimace. "I'm not <em>happy</em> about it but there's nothing I can really <em>do </em>about it, so we have to just go forwards. Anyway, use the 'Buddy System' sub-thread on the Chat to advise about your planned movements as long as possible in advance. We'll try to ensure that everyone has backup nearby, no matter what."</p><p>Chloe nodded. "I meant what I said to Mari once: I'll die before I willingly betray any of you. One of the things I made sure of was that Miracle Queen couldn't tell Hawkmoth who Marinette was. It's why I tried so hard to confuse the issue with the others too!"</p><p>Ladybug nodded. Suddenly, she nudged the other girl with her hip, forcing her to move and give her room to sit on the bench next to her. She reached over to both hug the other girl and also put hands on both her shoulders. "So, what's the thing that's got you so beaten down, Chloe?"</p><p>Chloe drew in her breath and suddenly acknowledged that she desperately <em>needed</em> someone she could say this to. "Mummy served the divorce papers at late supper. Right in front of me and all the servants. The <em>fucking bitch</em> enjoyed it, I think." The girl's cerulean eyes filled with tears. "I suppose I should call her 'Audrey' from now on as she assured Daddy that she wouldn't fight him for custody of me. She wouldn't even need <em>access visits</em>. She's still getting my name wrong, by the way!"</p><p>"Oh, Chloe!"</p><p>The blonde drew in a shuddering breath. "I know that you can sense movement. Maybe you might be able to sense the argument Daddy and M... <em>Audrey</em> are still having about money and possessions. I haven't come up, as far as I know."</p><p>Ladybug squeezed her shoulders. "Pack an overnight bag," she ordered. "I'll swing over to the Dupain-Chengs and convince them to let you stay with Marinette tonight. I'm not leaving you here after all you've been through with people for whom you're obviously not a priority or even <em>a subject of discussion</em>."</p><p>Chloe began to sob heartbrokenly and allowed her team leader to draw her into her embrace. "Why doesn't anyone love me, Ladybug?"</p><p>"We do, Chloe! Oh if only you'd accept that so many of us do!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, just in case you couldn't tell:</p><p>Lady Naga - Alya + Snake<br/>Howler - Luka + Monkey<br/>Illysion - Max + Fox<br/>Palonino - Nino + Horse<br/>Hardshell - Kim + Turtle</p><p>So, we reach the end of my version of the tail end of Season 3. </p><p>Things have changed - Adrien's relationship with Gabriel is in ruins and it's just a matter of time before the breach becomes as physical as it is emotional. Chloe's old life is shrivelling away, leaving her having to depend on her friends more and more just to keep sane. Finally, Melodié's story is just beginning with Felix running around with his own agenda.</p><p>Then there is the issue of how Marinette and Adrien's tangled relationships filled with secret identities will be resolved (if they can be)!</p><p>There will probably be a considerable hiatus before I can update again. I have most of my alternate season 4 plotted out but it's going to be difficult to write. I have to introduce several almost completely-original heros and villains and very little of my season 4 will resemble the canon one due to Chloe still being on the team as well as Kagami and Luka no longer being involved romantically with Adrien and Marinette. I will update but I can't promise when right now.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Cast list (just in case anyone can't tell)</p><p>@BugBoss -  Marinette/Ladybug<br/>@FoxyBabe - Alya/Rena Rouge<br/>@TrueQueen - Chloe/Queen Bee<br/>@Cool4Catz - Adrien/Chat Noir<br/>@NotARenaissanceArtist - Nino/Carapace who is so done with TMNT references.<br/>@DragonGrrrl - Kagami/Ryuuko<br/>@Snekcharmer - Luka/Vipereon<br/>@Ladyblogger - Alya in her civilian guise<br/>@WascallyWabbit - future!Alix/Bunnyx<br/>@NarrowSqueak - Marinette/Multimouse<br/>@Whitespots - Emma Agreste/Snowpaw<br/>@CitySparrow - Jess/Sparrow/Eagle<br/>@HotMetal - Aeon/Uncanny Valley<br/>@SuperMom - Olympia Hill/Majestia<br/>@AmericanChampion - President Camilla Hombee/Victory</p></blockquote></div></div>
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